The Journey
by LinksOcarina
Summary: Embark on a simple journey of two young trainers, who through circumstances they could not control, will have to grow up fast to survive a harsh world of dangerous pokemon, secret projects, and their own inner demons.
1. Chapter 1 All Stories Have A Beginning

PROLOGUE

The darkness around Sebastian made his head spin. The old, dusty cave looked malevolent in his mind, and no amount of light was going to change his mind about that. Even using flash to aid his eyesight couldn't fight the gloomy shroud around him. In the back of his mind, he knew he should turn back. He pushed forward regardless of his primary fears, knowing that he had no choice in the matter.

'They are counting on me,' he kept saying to himself, 'I can't let them down.'

Sebastian cautiously walked forward, making sure to avoid the sleeping Geodudes on the ground. His guide, Amp the Ampharos, stayed in front of him and was using his tail as a lamp, swaying it back and forth, cutting a path of light through the thick shadow.

'Thank god Damon lent me Amp, or else id be lost in here forever.' Sebastian thought to himself, as he ventured deeper into the cavern, his thoughts clouding his mind with each step.

'What if the legend isn't true? What if I'm wasting my time in this cave? What if i'm too late to save them?' On and on he doubted himself, but regardless of his thoughts, he pressed forward, mustering up any courage he had to continue his trek.

Soon after, Sebastian heard a rumbling ahead of him. Amp stopped dead in his tracks, and began darting it's head around, it's arms outstretched in case of an attack, staying alert.

"What is it Amp?" Sebastian whispered to the startled pokemon.

Amp just looked around, a hint of fear in his eyes as it let out a small yelp, and began running towards the blackness.

"Hey..um...wait up!" cried Sebastian, as he picked up his own pace to catch up with Amp.

He kept running towards the dimming light of Amps tail, but the speedy creature kept a healthy pace in front of Sebastian. Try as he might, Sebastian couldn't catch up to Amp, and light went dimmer as they raced deeper into the cave.

Sebastian was now breathing hard from the sprinting in the cave. He nearly tripped over the many Geodudes on the floor, and was lucky enough that they didn't wake up and attack him in the darkness. Soon, there was no light in front of him. For the first time, he felt a cold chill rise in his spine.

'Amp must be miles from where I am.' he thought to himself.

Sebastian took a step forward, and then he began to fall...free falling into a hole in the ground. Sebastian screamed as he was looking around in the darkness. Ahead of him he saw the dim light he was chasing, as Amp fell through before him, He then heard a large growling sound, and in mid air, he looked toward his left side, and saw a shape moving in the darkness. Sebastian's heart nearly burst from his chest; eyes wide with fear as the dark shape began to move closer towards him.

"Www..what are you?" Sebastian cried to the creature bathed in shadow. He couldn't see anything but the silhouette of the large pokemon, until it turned towards him face to face, and stared at him with it's glowing eyes….

CHAPTER 1- All stories have a beginning

One year earlier.

The sky was clear in the seaside town of Ganlon, with no clouds to block the shining rays of the sun. The whole town, nearly 1,000 residents strong, was present in the main square for a celebration. Two 16 year olds were sitting on a brightly colored stage and band was near the front of the stage, playing some music that couldn't even be heard due to the crowds high pitched cheering. Balloons were flying in the air, with confetti littering the narrow, cobbled streets of the sleepy seaside sanctuary. The mayor of Ganlon continued his speech to the throng of people in front of him.

"It is rare that our tiny town sends out its youth to be amongst the greatest pokemon trainers in the world." The mayor spoke in his typical booming voice.

"We are fortunate that this year, two more trainers strive to become some of the best in the world. Many have attempted to become the next elite four member, a gym leader, or even the Pokecup Tournament champion. This year, we pray that these two talented boys can do just that."

The crowed roared with excitement after the mayor concluded his speech. The cries were deafening for anyone, as the town was excited for the two youths. Clad in white tee shirts and denim jeans, the two teens were taking in the excitement of the day.

. "Man I can't believe that they are so pumped for us Seb." The tall blond whispered to his friend. "I know Ken. I'm surprised that everyone in town is here." Sebastian replied to his friend.

Sebastian and Ken, at first glance, can seem like opposites. One is tall, the other is short, one has blond hair and green eyes, the other black hair and brown eyes; the list goes on and on. But the two have been inseparable since childbirth. Since they were young, they have always dreamed of this moment. While most trainers start when they are in their pre-teens, the two decided to wait until they felt they could handle the journey. During that time they studied as much as they can about pokemon, from reading books on strategies to watching the World Pokemon Tour and the Pokecup Tournament's on TV. Even playing the games on pokemon helped them develop their growing knowledge of the pocket monsters that are scattered throughout the region, although they could never compare to the real thing. Now, After 16 years, they are ready to go on their journey.

"It is now my pleasure to present to you, the two boys who are embarking on their journey today, Kenneth Wesker and Sebastian Caine." Cried the mayor, extending his stubby arm outward to the boys.

The crowed roared as the Mayor signaled for the boys to stand up and take a bow. Both reluctantly did so, and the crowd cheered even more for them when they began to walk towards the mayor at the podium.

"Might as well enjoy this Seb." Ken whispered to him. He then raised his arms and shouted "YEAH! WOOOOO!"

Sebastian just looked at his friend wide eyed, and then raised his own arm like a rock star at a concert. The crowd ate the display up, and the two youths went kept up the display until the mayor signaled for the crowd to calm down.

"It is with great pleasure that I give you boys some parting gifts. A map of the entire Enkada region, starting pokeballs, brand new waterproof watches, and of course, speaking for the town, an overwhelming good luck on your journey."

The mayor's aide's hand the teens their gear, all of it neatly packed in two large, black backpacks. "With that, I want to wish both of you good luck, and I hope you have much success in your journey." The band stood up, and began playing a marching tune, and the two teens shook the mayors hand before stepping off the stage. The crowd kept cheering, until it finally subsided and began to disperse just as soon as the boys were out of sight.

"Awesome job Sebby!" a little voice said over the noise in front of them.

Sebastian looked around and standing next to the stage was his younger sister, Erica, and his mom, Peggy. The little 8-year old girl ran to her brother and hugged him tightly, just barely wrapping her arms around his chest.

"Thanks little lady." Sebastian said, smiling back at her. He then turned to his mom and hugged her tightly. "I'm going to miss you mom." he said, with tears swelling in his eyes a bit. "Same here honey. Your dad would be proud of you i'm sure."

No one knows what happened to Sebastian's father. He was a middle class salesman, traveling from city to city in Enkada, and in different regions. He kept in contact with his family through phone calls and letters all the time while traveling, until they suddenly ceased. Sebastian was seven at the time, and was worried about his father dearly. He remembered the many nights that he cried himself to sleep, thinking about his father. Erica, who was only a year old at the time, didn't remember him at all.

Ken meanwhile was being greeted by his parents, and was mimicking his friend's own embrace with his family.

"You be careful out there Ken." his mom, Elly, said to him. "Of course I will. I'm not going out there alone." he said back to her, looking at Sebastian with his family. "I will be in good company for sure."

His father, Al, patted his son on the shoulder and said to him "Do your best, that's all that matters."

"I will dad, no worries."

After a few more hours of goodbyes and good lucks from the townsfolk of Ganlon, the two teens are finally ready to begin their journey. Both Ken and Sebastian's families stopped at Sebastian's house first for lunch, and spent the last hour in the town with their families. Soon, it was nearly noon, and they knew it was time to go. After the last teary goodbyes from their families, they finally leave the sleepy town of Ganlon.

Sebastian looks back at the town, now in the distance. The grassy hills and bright blue sky make the illusion of a majestic painting is behind him, as he and Ken continue down the dirt road ahead of them. He turned away from Ganlon and looked ahead at the sprawling dirt road ahead of them. "So which town do you want to hit first?" Sebastian asked Ken, who was busy looking at the map from his backpack.

"Well..." he says, keeping his focus on the paper in front of him, "Rawst is closer, but Liechi is bigger, and also has a pokemon gym." He replied back.

You think were ready for the gym Ken?"

"I doubt it, but that's why were out here." Ken laughed.

Seb smiled back at his friend. "Let's go to Rawst first, then Liechi, that way we get some experience before we beat the crap out of the gym leader there!" Ken just laughed and began to run up ahead of Sebastian. "Come and catch me then Seb!" he yelled back at his friend, who was smiling and running right after him.


	2. Chapter 2 Up for the Challenge?

CHAPTER 2- Up for a challenge?

As the sun set on their first official day as trainers, Sebastian and Ken decided to camp out for the night. They took Ken's camping tent and set it up at the edge of the nearby woodland, called Ridge forest. With their light fading fast, the teens lit a fire using the matches their parents gave them.

"We definitely need a fire type or else we will run out of matches." Ken remarked, as the kindling they gather began to light from the burning match.

"Did you pick Treecko as your starter like you wanted to?" Sebastian asked.

"Nope, I decided to go a different route." He said, grabbing his active pokeball. "Let me show you dude. I'm surprised you didn't ask about it before."

"Same here." Sebastian said back. "Guess all the excitement for today made me forget we had our own pokemon!"

Ken laughed as he threw the ball to the ground. It opened quickly, and a brilliant red light shot out of it, slowly taking the shape of the pokemon inside. Soon, a small, blue creature popped out. "Wow, I didn't expect you to take the Wooper." Sebastian said to his friend. The Wooper in front of him waddled toward Ken, smiling and in it's language, cried a soft "Woop."

"When I saw it in person I just fell in love Seb." He told his friend. "Who did you take? Not Charmander like everyone else does." He snickered back.

"No, I went for a different route as well." Sebastian replied, grabbing his own pokeball and throwing it on the ground. Soon, a tan colored creature came out, holding a thick club.

"Come here Cubone." Sebastian called to his pokemon. It looked up from its skull head and ran towards his trainer, its red eyes looking gazing to it's new master. "Cubonn…bonn…bonne…" it growled.

"No one has ever picked a Cubone as their starter." Ken said to him.

"Until now." Replied a smiling Sebastian.

"Not a bad choice dude, but my Wooper can whip its ass in a fight though." Said Ken proudly.

" Heh, just try it, Cubone can use his club and whomp anyone!" Sebastian challenged back.

"Ok ok, lets have a battle then." Ken said back.

Sebastian smiled, but then a thought came to his head, stopping him from accepting the challenge given to him. "Hold on a sec dude." Sebastian replied," I don't think it's fair, I mean type difference is horrible."

"Oh come on Seb." scoffed Ken. "You can't back down from a challenge like that!"

"I have no choice, you would win to easily dude."

"Yeah, I guess." Ken replied, jerking his head around for something to use. "Ok, how about we do something else."

He then grabbed one of the small sticks they collected for their fire and held it up. "I will throw this in the air, and we will see if Wooper can hit it with his water gun attack."

"What about Cubone?" asked Sebastian.

"Doesn't he know bonemerang yet?"

"Hmm..I don't know." He turned to his pokemon for a second, and asked him "Cubone, can you use your bonemerang attack?" The little monster looked up and began to nod, whimpering a soft "Cuuu…"

"I think that's a yes." He said to Ken.

"Ok then, lets do it!" Ken replied, holding the stick in front of his pokemon. "Wooper, hit this stick with your water gun attack!" "Wooooper" it cried out, it's big grin sliding away as its eyes become glued to the stick in front of him.

Ken arched his back, setting his gaze towards the darkening skyline. He then looked down at Wooper, who was stone-faced towards the stick near Ken's feet. Sebastian and Cubone looked on with anticipation, waiting for Ken to throw the stick. Ken then began the countdown.

"One…two…three!"

With that, he threw the stick in the air, and the tiny pokemon's mouth opened wide, spewing a perfect stream of water into the air. The stream grazed the stick, which knocked it off its course until it fell down on the ground near the campsite. Sebastian was laughing loudly at the spectacle, while Ken went to get grab the stick, his Wooper following him from behind.

"No good!" Sebastian cried, "it just missed it."

"Bullshit dude! He hit it, so it counts!" Ken called back. "Wooper, good job. Got to work on the aiming though, but that was awesome."

"Wwoopperr!" It cried back in excitement. "Your turn buddy." Ken said, as he grabbed the stick and began to run back to where he was standing before. Sebastian then bent down, and looked at Cubone right in the eyes.

"Ok then, you ready Cubone?" Sebastian asked his pokemon. "Cuboneee." It said back sternly. "Ready Ken?" he called to his friend.

"Ready dude." Ken said.

"Remember, hit it as hard as you can with your bonemerang attack." Sebastian whispered to his pokemon.

Cubone turned around, and shot his arm out over his head, lifting his club in the air. Like Wooper before him, it eyed the stick Ken was holding. Ken began another countdown, and like clockwork, tossed it into the air. Cubone eyed it for a second before throwing his club at the flying stick. It flew in the air with a circular rotation before hitting the stick dead in its center, splintering it into tiny pieces before plummeting to the ground.

"WOAH!" shouted Ken as the club came back to Cubone, who caught the returning club with its left hand.

"NO FUCKING WAY, SEB! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Ken shouted out.

"Great job Cubone!" Sebastian said to his pokemon, who went down and hugged it. "You will kick ass once we start going to the gyms!"

Ken grabbed his friend's shoulders and have him a light shake.

"Ok, you win the marksman competition, next round we do a relay race!"

Sebastian laughed, but looked at the crimson sky fading away to the darkness coming in.

"Maybe tomorrow Ken, we should relax for the rest of the night."

"Yeah yeah, that's a good idea."

The two boys sat around the fire for a bit, eating some sandwiches that their parents packed for them. Wooper and Cubone began playing a game of tag, while Ken and Sebastian got their sleeping bags ready with the tent after finishing their dinner. Soon, the bright stars and the pale moon were out in full view of the teens, and they put their pokemon back in their pokeballs for the night, and finally went to sleep, packed tightly into the tent that separates them from the outside world.


	3. Chapter 3 The True Test

CHAPTER 3- The true test

Sebastian woke up first inside the tent, the rays of the sun beaming down through the thick fabric. Groggily he crawled out of the tent and went right for his backpack, and began to search through it for some food.

'Thank god my mom packed enough sandwiches for a few weeks.' He thought to himself, tearing open the clear wrapper and greedily chomping down on the triangular shaped sandwich. He looked back in the tent and heard Ken snoring loudly. Sebastian just chuckled to himself and continued to eat his breakfast, occasionally looking up at the flocks of pidgey in the air.

He then got an idea, and reached for his pokeball. Throwing it on the ground, Cubone popped out, brandishing his club as if he was ready for a battle.

"You hungry Cubone?" Sebastian asked him. He reached out and put some bread near its face.

"Cuuu..bone?" it said, rather quizzically looking at the fluffy white dough in his masters hand.

"I know I know, its not real pokemon food, but it will do for now. Besides we need to keep your strength up."

The pokemon still looked confused, but he reached for the food with his hand, grabbing a tiny piece. He then sniffed it for a second, and then put it under his skull. " Ccuuu!" it said, rather happily, and then grabbed another piece in Sebastian's hand. "See, told you it was not bad! Enjoy it Cubone." Sebastian replied.

"You thirsty Cubone?" Sebastian asked him. "Let me get some water for us." He shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and went behind the tent to get the water bottles they packed for themselves. "It's probably warm but it will be….OH NO!" cried Sebastian.

On top of the pile of water bottles was a pokemon. Its head looked like a helmet, glimmering in the morning sun with a silver shine; spiraling circles engraved on it, and its small, round shaped body was on top of the pile, greedily sucking the water in the plastic containers. The Seedot wasn't paying attention to the shocked human in front of him. It just kept drinking the water, going through the open hole on top of the bottles and slurping up the clear liquid with ease.

"Get away from there!" Sebastian yelled at the tiny pokemon, getting close to shoo it away. It lifted its body, and with its large eyes looked at the human angrily.

"Cubone! I need some help!" Sebastian called to his pokemon.

Before Sebastian could make another move, the Seedot jumped into the air, and with its low weight it flew right at Sebastian's face, it's hard head aiming straight like an arrow. Sebastian ducked just in time, feeling a swoosh breeze past his head by the charging pokemon. The Seedot did a little roll on the ground, but jumped back up and charged again. Sebastian looked at it in horror as the Seedot ducked its head down, the hard; helmet shaped part of its head was now facing Sebastian. Sebastian shielded himself; putting his arms in front of him, his mind racing at this point.

'Damn!' he thought to himself, I never expected this to be so tough.'

The Seedot was closing in, and was inches away from tackling Sebastian. Then, at the last second, the Seedot went off course, spiraling nearly out of control and stumbling onto the ground hard. Something knocked it down. Sebastian turned and saw a spinning bone club in the air, rotating towards his Cubone. The pokemon caught it with his hand, and stared down the Seedot.

"Good job Cubone! Be ready for it, and watch out for grass attacks!" The Seedot got up in a hurry, more surprised then injured by the hit from the bonemerang. 'Time to see what I am made of.' Sebastian thought to himself.

"Cubone, try your headbutt attack!" he said.

"Cuuuubonnnee." The creature cried, and began to run at the Seedot, bending its head down slightly. The Seedot dodged it, and Cubone instead knocked a nearby tree. The might of the headbutt shook the tree hard like a tremor; leaves falling freely from the might of the blow. Cubone bounced back and ran after the Seedot, who kept dodging Cubones headbutt attack. In mid air, the Seedot opened its mouth, and shot out small seeds, which like missiles aimed for Cubone on the ground.

" Dodge the bullet seeds Cubone!" Sebastian yelled back.

The pokemon obliged, and began to move out of the bullet seeds range. The Seedot continued its attack, jumping from the ground every time to avoid Cubones headbutts, and shooting its bullet seed at the spunky ground type.

Then, one of the sprays of seeds struck Cubone in the arm. The pokemon stopped dead in it's tracks, falling to the ground as the Seedot jumped away. "BOOOONNE!" it cried, in definite pain.

'Oh shit, what do I do now…' Sebastian thought to himself…'Think, think…there has to be a way to slow down the Seedot….wait, why don't we try it?'

Sebastian turned to his Cubone, which was now kneeling on the grassy field. The Seedot was looking at Cubone angrily, and was getting ready to jump again.

"Cubone, use your leer attack." Cried Sebastian.

Cubone looked up, and stared at his opponent, his eyes glaring with a deep coldness to catch it off guard. The Seedot looked confused for a second, and hesitated as Cubone began to ready itself for another charge. The Seedot then jumped in the air after shaking off his fright, shooting it's bullet seed at Cubone, but the leer worked, and the seeds missed Cubone by a few inches. The Seedot landed on the ground, and then charged at Cubone with its tackle attack.

"Now use your bone club attack!" Sebastian yelled. Cubone stood still, and held his club up high, waiting for the Seedot to get close. "Ssseeeeddd" the small grass type yelled, as it closed in on Cubone. Cubone eyed the charging Seedot carefully. The two pokemon nearly collided with each other, but Cubone was swifter, and hit the grass type on its shiny head with its club. The Seedot staggered back for a second, and had a dazed look in its eyes.

"Good job Cubone! Go for the kill, use your headbutt again." Cubone charged furiously, bending its head down once more. This time, the flinching Seedot couldn't dodge it, and was hit dead on by Cubone's sturdy head. The Seedot went flying, and knocked into a nearby tree. Then it toppled onto he ground, totally exhausted.

"ALRIGHT! I DID IT!" shouted Sebastian. 'Not bad for the first time.' He thought to himself. "Good job Cubone!" he said to his pokemon, which was now jumping for joy after it realized he was victorious.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot!" Sebastian grabbed one of the empty pokeballs in his belt, and threw it at the Seedot on the ground. He hit it head on, and in a blinding red light it disappeared. The ball shook on the ground for a moment, before stopping completely. The red dot in the center went out, signaling that the pokemon inside of it was captured.

"All right!" Sebastian said. He ran to the pokeball, and picked it up. "My first capture, great work Cubone." "Cubone…bone…bonne." The creature said back to his trainer.

Sebastian picked up Cubone's pokeball and aimed it at him. "Rest up now Cubone." He said, and the ball opened up, with Cubone disappearing in a flash.

Suddenly, he heard a new Sound behind him. CLAP CLAP CLAP. "Whose there?" Sebastian turned around, and saw Ken clapping his hands, with his Wooper standing next to him.

"Bravo dude! That was an awesome battle!" he said to his friend.

"I'm glad you thought so." Sebastian replied. "How come you didn't jump in though?" "I figured you could handle it." Ken replied. "Besides, two on one is unfair."

"Any help would have been nice though."

" Doesn't matter now Seb. You did well though. So do we have any water left? " Ken asked. "I'm thirsty."

Sebastian looked at him wide eyed; he forgot that Seedot drank all of their water! "Oh shit!" he jumped up as he said that. "The Seedot drank it all!"

Ken just laughed. "I thought so dude. That's ok though." He looked down at his Wooper and said to it, "Wooper, fill those bottles with your water gun attack."

"Wwooopperr." It replied, and waddled towards the empty plastic containers.

Ken picked up the bottles and set them all upwards in a row. Wooper then tilted it head, and spewed water out of its mouth. In the angle he was shooting it, the water cascaded down onto the bottles, and in a few minutes they were completely filled with crystal clear water.

As Ken was closing the bottles one by one, he turned his head to his friend and said, "This is another reason why a water type is useful, we at least won't die of thirst out here." Sebastian just laughed, and began to pack up the tent so that they can continue on their journey.


	4. Chapter 4 Rivals in Rawst

CHAPTER 4- Rivals in Rawst

Sebastian and Ken spent about two weeks in the wilderness until they reached the small town of Rawst. The weather stayed mild for the two rookie trainers, and they made it without any serious injuries or problems. They also made progress on their pokemon collections. After capturing a Seedot, Ken one upped Sebastian by capturing his own new pokemon, a Spearow. With two pokemon in their arsenals apiece, they both made their way to Rawst.

Rawst is not a large town in the Enkada region. In fact, it is amongst the smallest. It is a sleepy town, which recently acquired its own new, state of the art pokemon center, and has become a haven for the trainers who have passed by this area. Although the small towns here are not as popular among pokemon fanatics, it does include a few waterways and the Ridge forest, which has been a spot that many trainers who wish to capture bug or grass type pokemon.

Once they reached the town, the two teens quickly began looking for the pokecenter. It was not hard to find, as it was the only new building in the town itself.

"So how long do you want to stay here for Ken?" Sebastian asked.

"A few days is good, we can probably do some pokemon battles with others here to." Ken said. "Very eager huh?" Sebastian remarked, rolling his eyes.

Ken laughed and patted his friend on the back.

"You bet your ass I am. We did good on our first captures, why not do better in our first real battles?"

"Don't get overconfident dude." Sebastian replied back. "There are probably strong trainers in that center that will knock us around…." "And there are probably weak trainers we can beat the crap out of. Come on Seb it will be fun. Plus now we can fight if you want to!" Ken said with a big grin on his face.

"No way man, my pokemon would lose to yours, even I know that one." Sebastian replied, as Ken's grin began to fade. "Ok ok." Ken sighed. "But I still want to battle someone! Hope there are willing people in the pokecenter."

Moments later, they walked up to the tinted glass doors of the large, concrete building in front of them. The pokecenter itself was painted in a bright white color, with pokeball designs drawn all over the walls as wallpaper. The smell of fresh paint and hot food filled the air, and the cool wind of the air conditioner was a blessing for the sweating teens. Besides the typical healing center found in all of the centers that dot Enkada, it also had a trading station, a cafeteria, and a large number of dormitories for the tired trainers. All around them, there were trainers, both young and old, either talking, relaxing in the lounge or even feeding their pokemon. Dead in the center of the room was a bulletin board, filled with notices on trades, battles, and other little memos that passing trainers post there.

"Come on, let's get some food Seb. I'm starving!" Ken said, walking towards the cafeteria wing. "They got some pokemon food to give out to, lets go!"

"Um..no not right now. I am going to do something else first." "Ok, dude, ill be right back then." Ken said, walking into the cafeteria wing and getting in line for some food.

Sebastian began to walk towards the bulletin board, and began reading the many notices posted on it. Most were offers for trades and phone numbers for trainers, but there were some tournament notices. One in particular caught Sebastian's eye. He inched closer to the bulletin board, and lifted a finger onto the small print of the poster.

THE WORLD POKEMON TOUR (WPT) SIGNUP

The World Pokemon Tour is now registering for this seasons combatants.

Following categories are now available.

Tournament Rules

Prime Rules

Chance Team Matches

Baby pokemon Matches

Type Matches

2 V 2 Matches

Knockout Matches

Registration will occur in the following major cities. Ask your pokecenters for details:

Chesto City

Hondew City

Belue Port

Drash City

Salac City

Starf Plateau

Battles will be held at Salac, Chesto, Hondew and Starf Stadiums once all spots have been filled. Register today!

"Good luck surviving that tournament buddy." Said a deep voice.

Sebastian turned around and was face to face with a tall, dark eyed teen. He looked to be about 18 or 19 years old, wearing a faded leather jacket and a black shirt, perfect matches for his faded jean shorts and hiking boots. His black hair was tied into a ponytail, giving him an aggressive biker look. Over his shoulder was a backpack, and pinned on them were numerous badges. The boy then extended his hand out.

"The names Damon, Damon Nauls."

"Sebastian Caine." Replied Sebastian, shaking the boys hand. "Just starting out I see huh Sebastian?" "Um..yeah how did you know?"

Damon pointed to his backpack, "No badges yet. Only rookies have that basically." He stated.

"Yeah, well me and my friend just started two weeks ago." Sebastian replied, pointing to the cafeteria. Ken was now getting some pokemon food from the dispenser. Damon whipped his head around.

"Nice, you guys not traveling alone. That's good." He replied, putting his hands in his jean pockets, as if fumbling to grab something. "Where are you two heading?" He asked.

"Well, we plan to go to Liechi in a few days." Sebastian said. "We want to see if we can defeat the gym leader there." Damon nodded his head and began to chuckle for a bit.

"Good luck kid, the gym leaders are actually hard to beat." Damon replied.

"Well it looks like you have had no trouble with them." Replied Sebastian, eying the lustrous badges on Damon's backpack. Damon followed his eyes and grabbed his backpack on his shoulder, and brought it in front of Sebastian, showing the badges in full view to the younger teen.

"See these badges?" Damon said. Sebastian just nodded, as the older teen continued to speak

"It took me four years to get them all. I'm still two short of qualifying for the Elite Four. Don't take gym trainers lightly, Sebastian. Trust me, they are one of the reasons a lot of trainers fizzle out in the end."

Sebastian didn't know what to say to the stranger lecturing him. He didn't want to come off arrogant or rude to the guy, as he was trying to help him.

"I can tell you one thing then," Sebastian said as he was eying the different colored badges on Damon's backpack, "I don't plan to fizzle out anytime soon."

Damon just smiled and said. "I like your spirit. Maybe we should battle sometime." "Well you look like your experienced…ill get whipped." Said Sebastian.

"Never say that dude, that just shows weakness. You'll never win battles that way." Damon then motioned for Sebastian to follow him. "Come with me dude, let me teach you something." He said, as he turned around to head out of the pokecenter. Sebastian looked confused for a second, and then grabbed Damon's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks and turning him around for a second.

"Wait one second Damon. I want to get my friend. Is that ok?" He asked him, turning towards the cafeteria wing. "Ok, I'll wait here then. Be quick though." Said Damon.

Sebastian just nodded and walked into the cafeteria. The tables were filled with trainers and pokemon alike, all eating the food that the center provided. Nice spaghetti dishes and garlic bread for the trainers, and some pellets for the pokemon themselves. The trainers were engaged in a lot of conversation to, most of them comparing their pokemon and talking about their experiences they have had, and even a few trying to flirt with the fairer sexes. He looked around for Ken, but the sea of trainers made it hard to spot his friend. Suddenly he heard a noise above the rest of the chatter.

"HEY SEB! OVER HERE!" Ken shouted, waving his arms in the air. Sebastian looked and just sighed, trying to hide his embarrassment from the trainers around him that actually looked up to notice his name being called. He walked closer to his friend, as he was busy stuffing his face with thin spaghetti noodles.

"Could you be any louder?" he asked Ken.

"Sorry dude, I needed to get your attention." He replied, grabbing the garlic bread on his tray. "Here want a piece?"

"Oh yeah, sure." "He took the bread and began to eat it.

"I also got us enough pokemon food to last a while, so we should be good food wise for them." Ken said, spinning some spaghetti with his fork and putting it in his mouth.

"That's awesome dude." Said Sebastian. "Anyway, there is this guy outside, his name is Damon. Seems like a nice guy, and he wants to show me some tricks in battling. Want to come out with me?" Ken stopped chewing his food and looked up at his friend.

"Dude that sounds a bit shady. How do you know he won't rob you or something?" "That's why I wanted you to come Ken! Come on if anything, he will show us something new so we can actually compete in the gyms."

"Oh come on man, the gyms are probably pushovers. Every year a ton of trainers face the elite four, I'm sure we can take them." Replied Ken.

"Then prove it to me." Said another voice. Both boys turned around, and saw Damon standing there. "Sorry Sebastian, I got tired of waiting."

Ken stood up, and faced Damon eye to eye. "So your this Damon guy huh?" Ken asked.

"I am, nice to meet you. And your name is…"

"Ken. Ken Wesker."

"If you think your so good Ken, face me in a battle outside."

"Don't mind if I do then." Said Ken, who quickly turned and began to storm outside.

"KEN…Ken wait!" Sebastian yelled at him, trying to stop his friend. "Dude he will beat you horribly. It's not worth it."

"You kidding man?" Ken snapped back. "It definitely is worth it. I am going to whip this asshole bad!"

Damon just chuckled to himself "So cocky…so easy…I like that Ken." He said calmly.

The teens went outside into the street. It was about one in the afternoon now, so the streets were bare with the exception of a few bag ladies and young businessmen going back to work from lunch. A few trainers, who heard the commotion that Ken and Damon started, followed them outside to view the battle.

"Simple rules Ken, one on one, no substitutes. You go ahead and pick yours first." Said Damon.

"Fine, let's go for it." Said Ken, grabbing one of his active pokeballs. "Kick some ass, Spearow!" The ball opened, and the tiny bird pokemon came out flapping, its wings making it hover in the air.

"Ok then, go for it Amp!" said Damon, who threw his own pokeball out. Then appeared a Flaaffy, standing upright on its two pink legs.

"You nicknamed it? Dude no one nicknames their pokemon anymore!" scoffed Ken. Damon just laughed back at him. "Your move first Ken."

'Ok…he has an electric type…damn this is not good…' Ken said to himself. On the sidelines, Sebastian saw his friend already struggling.

'This battle is over already.' He thought to himself, 'I hope Ken has a plan if he can win it.'

"Ok Spearow, got to avoid contact, so for now fly up high and growl at the Flaaffy." Ken said. "Speeer…" the bird pokemon cried, as it began to flap harder, going higher into the sky. It then opened its beak. "SPPPEEEAARRROWW" it shrieked, the deafening sound reaching all of the trainers on the bottom. Sebastian covered his own ears 'Damn, that's powerful.' He thought to himself. He looked and saw Damon's Flaaffy, who seemed to be undaunted by the sharp cry Spearow made.

"Amp, use your thunderbolt attack and bring down that bird!" Damon said. "Flaf" the sheep replied, as its tail tip began to glow a bright yellow. Soon, a lightning bolt shot out of it, and went right towards the flying Spearow.

"SPEAROW DODGE IT!" cried Ken. The bird pokemon zigzagged in the air, desperately trying to avoid the electric attacks.

"Keep up the barrage Flaaffy. Tire it out." Said Damon. He then turned to Ken, "not bad so far, but not good enough Ken." Ken just glared right back, his face red with anger. "Spearow, use your quick attack!" "Speearr.." it squawked, and began to move faster than the lightning Flaaffy was shooting out of it's tail. It was flying around the sheep pokemon, going faster than anyone can see. Spearow then tilted its body back, and rammed into Flaaffy's chest beak first, before flying back upwards into the air. The electric type staggered back, in some pain with the direct hit in its chest.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT YEAH!" Ken shouted. The other trainers around them were clapping at the display of strength the spunky bird pokemon showed. Sebastian as well as impressed.

"GO KEN!" he was cheering out to his friend. Damon's smile began to fade a bit.

'This kid has some balls…but that won't help him in the end.' He thought to himself. " Amp, get ready for another hit." "Flllaaaafffy!" it replied, obeying its trainer as it stomped both of its feet on the ground like a sumo wrestler, standing its ground and watching the Spearow carefully in the sky.

"Staying put huh? Easy prey then." Ken boasted. "Spearow, give him another quick attack!" The bird pokemon flew up high once again, and once again was moving faster then the eye could see.

"Good…just like I predicted." Damon said under his breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. After putting them on, he looked down at his pokemon.

"Flaaffy, lets make it sunnier out here, Flash it!" he said sternly.

"Flllaaaafff!" the pokemon cried, as its tail glowed again, and this time a flash of light filled the already bright sky. Sebastian, as well as everyone else watching the battle, shielded their eyes with his arms from the blinding light. 'I've never seen such a bright flash before.' Sebastian thought to himself. With one eye closed, he used the other to look at Ken, who like everyone else was blocking the flash attack with his arms.

On the battlefield, the bright light also blinded Ken's Spearow. It stopped its descent and fluttered back into the sky, trying not to look at Flaaffy's glowing tail. Fortunately its keen bird eyes adjusted quickly, but Flaaffy already negated the quick attack.

"Perfect Flaaffy, use your cotton spore!" Damon commanded. The pokemon began to twist and shake itself, its entire body moving in a strange rhythm. Then parts of it woolen fleece began to fly off of its body, and floated towards Spearow. "Oh no…. QUICK SPEAROW, DODGE IT!" screamed Ken, but it was too late. The cotton hit Spearow dead on, sticking all over his body. It tried to flap it wings…but struggled to stay in the air. Soon it landed on the ground, and began pecking at the cotton stuck on its wings. Damon was grinning from ear to ear, as he got ready for the next attack.

"Ok Flaaffy, give it to him now, use iron tail!" cried Damon. Flaaffy bent down on all fours, and began running towards the grounded Spearow. Its tail began to glow brightly as it ran towards Spearow and lifted it high in the air. The glow faded and it suddenly looked like a metallic spike sticking straight out of his body.

"SPEAROW, GET BACK IN THE AIR!" cried Ken. "Speeeer" it cried back, as tried to fly once again, but even after pecking the cotton in his wings, it struggled to get back in the air. Flaaffy was to quick for the bird pokemon, and with a swipe of its tail it smacked Spearow dead on in its head. The Spearow went back right at Ken's feet, and couldn't get up. Ken looked crestfallen, and pulled his pokeball out of his backpack.

"Spearow return." He sighed. His head was turned down, realizing he was defeated. Damon was smiling again, and removed the sunglasses on his face before returning his Flaaffy into his pokeball. He walked up to Ken and put his arm on Ken's shoulder.

"You still got a lot to learn buddy, but you did good your first time." Damon said, trying to console the blonde teen. Ken shrugged him off and walked back into the pokecenter. "KEN WAIT!" Sebastian shouted out to his friend. Sebastian began to run toward his friend, but Damon blocked him with his arm.

"Let him go Sebastian." Damon said, "He needs some time to cool down." Sebastian looked back at Ken, as he entered the pokecenter. "You both got a lot to learn, but if he has the potential to become a master, you probably do to." Sebastian turned his head to Damon, a quizzical look on his face.

"What do you mean Damon?" he asked him. Not sure if that was a compliment or a challenge.

"He took on an electric type with a flying type, and actually did some damage. Not only that, but he was outmatched by experience and strength, but could of won the battle if he changed some of his strategy. Only master trainers would have the balls, the power and the brains to do this, and if he can do it, so can you. That is why I want to challenge you next." Damon said. "So right now, one on one, no switch outs. Do you accept or not?" he asked him.

Sebastian just looked straight at Damon, and then looked back at the pokecenter. Through the glass doors he could see Ken going straight up to the counter, handing Spearows pokeball to the nurse there. He then turned back to Damon, who was still staring at him, waiting for his response.

"Yes, I accept your challenge. Let's do it." Sebastian said.


	5. Chapter 5 No Hard Feelings

CHAPTER 5- No Hard Feelings

Sebastian was still upset from the battle before. He had his first battle, and his first loss, in the same day. Like Ken before him, Sebastian was now waiting for his pokemon to come out of the healing machine. His defeat against Damon was a true test, and he failed it miserably.

It started out well. He chose to use his Seedot against Damon's pokemon Crush, a Sandslash. He figured choosing last would be a strong advantage for him, and in the beginning for the battle it was. Seedot was quicker and more agile than Sandslash, jumping up in the air and shooting his bullet seed's at the ground type. Sandslash quickly countered that strategy though, entrapping the living acorn in quicksand by using the sand tomb.

Then the onslaught of slashes began. By the time Seedot was released from the quicksand, it was already exhausted. Not even hardening its shell could help it, as the Sandslashs claws were to powerful. It sliced through the feeble attempt of defense that Seedot used, knocking it out after a few swipes.

Sebastian couldn't get his defeat out of his head. 'This is why Ken was so upset…it sucks to lose.' He thought to himself. He went to look for his friend after his defeat against Damon, and found him asleep in the dormitory, clutching his backpack like a safety blanket. It wasn't even past 3 pm, but the battle must of tired him out greatly.

Sebastian waited patiently in the lounge of the pokecenter, looking at the map he was given back at Ganlon. He was plotting his next route, right to Liechi. He couldn't wait to leave the town of Rawst, in fact he would enjoy leaving after today. 'We could cut through the Ridge forest, go through the meadows, and reach Leichi in about two weeks...enough time to get even stronger than before….'

"You guys did well, but you got a lot to learn." Said a voice, snapping Sebastian back to reality. He looked up and saw Damon smiling back at him. The older teen grabbed a chair and sat next to Sebastian, looking at the route he was making for his map.

"Apparently we didn't do well enough." Sebastian replied, almost in a whisper. His head hanged low, as if he was ashamed of something. Damon just rolled his eyes and put his arm around the teen. Damon cleared his throat and began to speak.

"The problem is your letting it get to you. What you need to do is get over it. You're going to lose, sometimes more than you win. When you win, it will be great, when you lose, you'll feel like you've been fucked over, the point is there will be other battles, and you will do well in those battles with proper training."

After finishing his own speech, Sebastian lifted his head up. He looked into the dark eyes of the teen that just defeated him in battle, and he simply nodded his head, his lip quivering a bit. "It just sucks a lot though. I thought it would be a bit easier. The games, the battles on TV, they all were more fun. This is tougher than I thought."

"You need to get out of that mentality Sebastian." Damon replied. "Don't second guess yourself, you and Ken have potential. You just need more training." Damon got up from his chair, and with a sigh he continued to speak.

"I am going to go with you. You both need some help and guidance. Ok dude?" Sebastian looked at him wide eyed. "No, I don't want you to go out of your way to help us out…." "NO NO NO. I am not going out of my way. Trust me man, I am going to enjoy going with you guys. You both are fun to hang around with. Besides, I have never been to Leichi gym yet."

"Ok then, if you insist. Welcome aboard dude." Sebastian said, extending his hand out. Damon took it and shook it hard. "Thanks Sebastian."

Then Damon got distracted for a moment. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. Damon put a finger up, and put his hand in his pocket. He pulled out a cell phone, and saw the number that was calling him.

"I'll be right back Sebastian, I need to take this." Damon excused himself.

Sebastian nodded, and Damon walked toward the front of the pokecenter, his phone next to his ear. Then Sebastian heard another BEEP. This one though was a familiar one to him. His pokemon was healed! He picked up his map and stuffed it in his backpack, and raced towards the healing center, where the nurse on duty handed him his pokeball.

Damon kept his other hand over his ear as he listened to the voice on his phone.

"Are you sure that you lost their trail Mr. Nauls?" the deep, raspy voice asked him.

"Yes sir, I am sure of it. They couldn't catch up to me and now I have some company of my own to help me go places." Damon replied to it.

"This company you speak of, I'm assuming that you plan to rob him or her after you finish using them."

"Unfortunately it will be a bit complicated, there are two of them, and they are tightly knit friends sir. They are rookies, but powerful. I think I can train them to, "help us out" in a way sir."

The voice on the other line coughed, a very deep one a smoker would have, and began to speak again.

"Well then, use them as much as you can Mr. Nauls. The first sign of trouble though I want you to bail out. I don't need to lose you to the authorities because of some fuck up rookie trainers you travel with. Be on your guard at all times."

"I was planning on dumping some of the merchandise on them, just in case they do catch up with me sir, but you don't need to worry about me. I always am careful sir, no need to worry about that." Damon replied, a small grin creeping up on his face.

The day was sunny, like every other day the past week. The pidgey were chirping, giving the sign to the early birds to start the day. The streets of Rawst were already busy, as the businessmen and women head for work. Also, the pokemon trainers passing through were getting early starts, so they can continue their personal journeys.

Sebastian, Ken, and Damon were amongst those early risers. Although there were some protests to when to leave, the three teens mutually agreed to go at first light.

"I don't get why were leaving so early, I mean whenever we leave it will still take time for us to get to Liechi." Ken complained.

"That may be, but leaving early has benefits." Replied Damon.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Ken muttered.

"Firstly, pokemon that are usually out at night can be caught in the morning. Second, you can easily follow other trainers who leave early, because most do. Lastly, because you will be traveling a lot, and the farther you go, the quicker it will be. So stop bitching and lets get a move on." Damon said sternly.

Ken just rolled his eyes and followed him as the older teen led them out of the dormitory and into the pokecenter. He then took them to the nearby PC station. Ken and Sebastian hanged back for a moment as Damon went to the station and began to fiddle with the controls. While this was going on, Ken turned his head and

"Why did you let _him_ come with us Seb? He is an asshole you know." Ken whispered.

"He may be a bit brash, but he does want to help us Ken. We might as well take it, we both got a lot to learn…"

"Oh bull dude. We lost one, big deal. We won't lose again that's for sure." Sebastian just shook his head.

"I don't know dude, if Damon was tough, imagine if we find someone who can beat him. He is good, and he has a lot to teach us." Sebastian whispered calmly. Ken just rolled his eyes again and nodded.

"Ok, but I still don't want him around. Something about him I don't trust." Ken whispered back.

Damon finished pressing buttons on the pc, and then went over towards a contraption sticking out of the PC. It was a platform, with a glass case over it, with the exception of a round hole in the center. Suddenly a brilliant blue light flashed, and a pokeball appeared from the hole. Another flash happened, and out popped another pokeball, like gumballs from a machine. Damon collected the two balls, but instead of putting them on his belts, he placed them in Ken and Sebastian's hands.

"What's this for?" Ken asked him.

"Consider it a gift." Replied Damon. "I caught these two a while back but never trained them. You guys need some pokemon, so I am giving you both one. Usually you have to trade, so consider it lucky that I have a few extra pokemon to get off my hands. So go ahead, open them!" Damon nudged the boys, who just looked at each other and nodded.

Ken threw his on the floor first. After the red light they have become accustomed to, a small, red and orange pokemon appeared. It was sitting on the ground indian style, one of its fingers in its duck like mouth. The baby Magby looked up at Ken and Damon quizzically, not sure whom he should go to. "Wow…nice Damon…um…thanks." Said Ken, struggling to compliment the older teen. "No problem. It should listen to you easily. Go ahead and open yours Sebastian."

Sebastian threw his new pokeball on the floor. Coming out of it was a brilliant yellow and black pokemon, small but with disproportionately sized arms. The Elekid looked up at Sebastian with its small, baby-like eyes and whimpered a bit. Sebastian couldn't believe it, as he "Cool, you catch these or breed them Damon?" Sebastian asked. Damon looked at him and hesitated for a second, before giving his answer.

"Well I um…did catch them yeah. It's hard to find baby pokemon in the wild, so I got lucky with them both. Anyway, enjoy them; it is my token for no hard feelings. So lets get moving." Said Damon, quickly turning around and heading towards the door of the pokecenter. Sebastian and Ken put their new pokemon back into their pokeballs and followed Damon into the already busy streets of Rawst. "

Back into the wild huh Seb?" Ken said happily. Sebastian just nodded and smiled a bit.


	6. Chapter 6 Darkness Falls

Chapter 6- Darkness Falls

After a few days in the grassy pathways of Enkada, the trio of trainers reached Ridge woods. The third largest forest area in Enkada, Ridge woods is a hotspot for many trainers to catch and battle pokemon. The trees were so high that the teens couldn't even see the bright sky, say for a few patches of light breaking through the cracks in the trees.

The forest was also filled to the brim with wild pokemon. Pidgeys and Spearows fly high in the sky, eating berries and Bumrys found in the trees. Other pokemon like Wurmple and Oddish litter the ground, and Lotad fill the streams in the brook. Both Sebastian and Ken were in awe of the pokemon they saw. During their youth, they were forbidden to enter the woods by their protective parents. Now, they were amazed of the majesty surrounding them, and the vast amount of pokemon that it contains.

"I never expected so many wild pokemon out in the open." Sebastian exclaimed. Damon laughed a bit at that.

"The tall grass thing is overrated, a lot of pokemon are on the pathway, but the stronger ones are in the grass. If you want to catch some of the best, look in the grass."

"That's good to know." Replied Sebastian.

"Yeah, Mr. body of knowledge." Ken said sarcastically.

"You both got a lot to learn still…" Damon replied. Ken just glared at him for a second as the trio kept walking deeper into the forest.

"Where are we heading in here Damon?" asked Sebastian, who was glancing over his shoulder as if someone was following them. "There is a lake in the center of the forest which we can rest at. It is where most trainers rest up anyway, so it's a good spot to be at."

"You've been here before Damon?" Ken asked sternly. "Yes I have, Ken. It's a common spot most experienced trainers know about. Now you guys know too."

"So rookies like us wouldn't know about it huh?" muttered Ken.

"Oh Ken come on, we would of found out sooner or later." Sebastian said, defending Damon and trying to avoid another fight between his two friends. Damon stopped walking and turned around, facing the teens, a slight smirk on his face.

"It's ok Sebastian, if Ken still feels bitter about the beat he got, there is little I can do to change it." Damon stated calmly. Ken just rolled his eyes and looked back at Damon with great intensity.

"It's bad enough I got beat by you, but you rub it in every fucking time when you speak to me like this." Snapped back Ken. "Why don't you just leave me fucking be about the fucking battle man!"

"_You _bring it up all the time Ken, not me. I only state what has happened, no need to even insult you about it." Damon snapped back coldly. Ken just glared at him angrily, his fists clenched with the building rage. Sebastian tried to get in between the two, afraid that they would begin throwing punches, but Ken then looked downward, and with a big sigh, walked backwards from where Damon was.

"Calm down dude, it's not worth it." Pleaded Sebastian.

"Shut up Seb, it was your idea to bring him along!" said Ken angrily.

"We can use the help…"

"We don't need fucking help! We can do this on our own, you and me, one on one!"

"That's where your wrong, Ken. Any help should be accepted, besides groups always prosper better than individual trainers." Replied Damon.

"Whatever man. Next time, you will not be so lucky when you face me, I will make sure of that."

"Better train some more then Ken, you got a lot of catching up to do." Replied Damon.

"GIVE ME SOME RESPECT MAN! COME ON!" Ken yelled back, clenching his hands again. "I am working my ASS off to be the best there ever was, and so far I am getting shit from you because you were able to beat me in a match. Next time you won't be so lucky." Damon just shook his head at that, and began to say something else back at Ken.

Sebastian couldn't believe what he was hearing anymore. He took a seat on a nearby rock that was nestled in a small patch of tall grass, shaking his head at the ridiculous display in front of him.

'Why the hell are they fighting like this? It is so damn pointless to me. Ken is to damn proud sometimes...and Damon is to strong willed…' he kept thinking to himself. Ken and Damon kept up their argument for a few moments, Ken yelling like a madman and Damon coolly replying to his cries. For a while, Sebastian just thought about leaving them alone in the forest and going on his own, but decided to wait until the two of them were tired from the petty argument that conspired.

Then, another, louder sound was heard, this time it was a large rustling sound in the tall grass next to Sebastian. Ken and Damon stopped to look at the grass, while Sebastian turned his head around to see what was making the noises. Soon enough, a large, oval shaped creature pounced from the grass, knocking Sebastian out of his seat on the rock. He let out a loud "umph" and fell on his back, with the large pokemon landing near his feet. Its oval shaped mouth with hundreds of tiny, incisor like teeth, was opened wide, as if the monster was about to devour the confused trainer. Two horns were also on its head, curved like the devil himself was present to them.

The Pinsir had its small arms in the air, as if it was ready to pounce once again on the defenseless trainer under him. Sebastian screamed, as the creature got closer to him. He tried to crawl away, but the pokemon jumped on him, its body landing on his legs. Sebastian screamed in pain from the weight of the Pinsir.

"HOLY SHIT! SOMEONE HEELLLP!" he yelped, as the large pokemon's horns opened up more, spreading to the ends of his body. The pokemon tilted its entire frame downward, aiming his horns at Sebastian's head. Sebastian covered his eyes, but then felt a tugging on his side. He looked up and saw Damon trying to pull him out of the Pinsir's grasp! The pokemon cried out with a mighty roar, as if someone was stealing its prey, and it let Sebastian go. It then though put its head down and began to run towards Damon, hitting him square in the chest. Damon let out a loud "Oomph" as he fell down as well, with spots of blood seeping through the woven fabric of his black shirt where the Pinsir's horns pierced his skin.

The Pinsir was still up looking downwards at the toppled teen. Damon was out cold; the impact of the Pinsir's horns knocking him out. Sebastian, horrified at the sight before him was fumbling to reach his pokeballs so he can battle the beast. He was crawling away to get out of the rampaging creature, but the Pinsir was quicker again and was already charging towards him! Sebastian was just shaking, waiting for the inevitable attack.

But then something unexpected happened. The Pinsir stopped and yelped in pain! "SIIIRRR" it cried, letting out a mighty roar. On it's side, it had burn marks, suggesting a match of some sorts hit it. Sebastian looked up and saw Ken standing near Damon's body, and his Magby, spewing small fireballs at the great beast.

"Keep up the embers Magby, make sure it can't attack!" shouted Ken. The Pinsir was now covering its mouth with its tiny arms, trying not to get hit by the small fire types barrage of fireballs. The Magby kept up the intensity, until Ken gave it another order.

"Try smokescreen, blind the fucker." Ken said to his pokemon. It nodded its head and shortly after, thick, black smoke began to come from its duck-like mouth. Although it was still young, the noxious fumes of the smokescreen even made Ken cough a bit, and the Pinsir was now immobilized for a second to try and see his surroundings. All of a sudden it lashed out, flaying its arms like it was trying to punch something. The smoke impaired it's vision to heavily, as it was throwing punches into the wind.

"Try a fire spin and trap him Magby!" shouted Ken. The pokemon then made a tiny jump onto the very rock that Sebastian sat on before this conflict began. This time though, the flames coming from it's mouth rotated in a circular motion, bright red and orange flames licking at the heels of the Pinsir. The bug pokemon tried to run away, but the smoke, mixed with the fire, made it nearly impossible to escape. The fire rose quickly, and the smokescreen turned into a blazing inferno, much to the shock of Ken,surrounding the Pinsir with a tower of fire.

The Pinsir was now ducking its body as low to the ground as it could. The flames were engulfing the area greatly, starting to spread to the tall grass and the trees around them, turning the once bright green landscape into nothing but desolate ash lands.

During the course of the battle, Sebastian was able to get up after the fall he had. He was now leaning over Damon, who was still out cold from the take down Pinsir did early on. He was trying to wake him up; making sure Damon was breathing and was bandaging the wound on his chest. 'Thank god it is superficial, or else he might have been seriously hurt.' Sebastian kept thinking to himself. 'Why the hell did it attack us?'

He kept glancing up at Ken and his Magby, as they continued their onslaught against the Pinsir. The Pinsir was now lying on the ground, the grass and trees around him charred by the flames Magby produced. It has burn marks on the back of its body, and was crying out in pain. Magby was standing guard, ready to attack as Ken reached for another pokeball, throwing it on the ground. Out popped his Wooper, and with a quick call, Ken gave it an order to follow.

"Wooper, take out the flames, water gun them quickly!" he commanded. The tiny pokemon obliged, and began spewing crystal clear water over the circle of fire. The Wooper began to douse the flames, turning the blazing inferno into nothing more but tiny ember. Thick steam was rising above the canopy as Wooper also blew water on the singed grass, which was at this point transformed into ash by the flames. Soon, all of the fire finally went out, and in the center of the former circle of fire, was a Pinsir who was struggling to get up.

Ken saw his opportunity, and quickly threw an empty pokeball at the giant bug. It hit it on it's singed back, and with another murderous scream, the Pinsir disappeared in a red light. The pokeball began shaking violently, moving back and forth. Ken had a smile on his face, knowing that he has this capture is in the bag.

Suddenly, the pokeball opened widely, and a bright red light shot out of the pokeball. The Pinsir had escaped the capture!

"You gotta be kidding me!" Ken yelled! "Magby, Ember attack!" he cried.

Magby got ready so shoot his ember, but by the time it turned around, the Pinsir was running off. Ken watched with disgust as the Pinsir began hobbling as fast as it can to get away from it's tough opponent. Ken recalled his Wooper and Magby as quickly as he could, and began to run after the wounded pokemon.

"KEN? KEN WAIT!" shouted Sebastian, but Ken was already far off into the woods, ignoring the cries of his friend. Sebastian was still trying to wake up Damon, but nothing was working. He tried to drag him to his feet, but Damon was definitely heavier than Sebastian, and he could barely lift him up from the ground. The forest grew silent after the activity that Sebastian witnessed. The sun was fading from the trees, and in his mind, Sebastian knew they would be in trouble from more attacks if they weren't careful.

Sebastian gathered some sticks and dug a small hole in the ground, and lit a match. He also took out his tent, and set it up shoddily on the rough, burnt ground around him. He fluffed his sleeping bag and laid it out inside the tent, then dragged Damon's body and pulled it in. It took some time, but he was able to get him on top of the sleeping bag. He closed the tent, and tended to the fire outside. Watching the darkening woods for any sign of life that is hopefully not hostile towards him.

Ken was running through the woods at top speed now, desperately trying to catch up to that Pinsir. 'No way in hell am I losing this capture.' He thought to himself. The sun was nearly set, but he had just enough light to keep his eyes on the Pinsir. It was up ahead, still hobbling because of its wounds from Ken's Magby, and it knew that the trainer who it lost to was chasing him down.

Ken passed a number of different pokemon, Bellsprout, Pidgey, even a Butterfree at one point, but none of them mattered to him. He wanted to take down that Pinsir. He kept running, his breathing was turning heavier by the second. It is a good thing that in his youth, he was very active in sports. He kept his eyes on the Pinsir ahead of him, and saw that it finally bent down, and stopped on the ground. It stayed low, using its tiny arms to grab its side. The Pinsir was succumbing to his burns finally, and couldn't even run anymore.

Ken caught up to it, and saw the Pinsir in pain on the ground. It roared for a bit; this time it was more of a cry of defeat rather than a ferocious scream. Ken looked at the pokemon, and his expression changed from glee to sadness in a matter of seconds. 'Did I put you through so much pain?' Ken thought to himself. 'I never meant to do that.'

Ken looked down at the Pinsir, still in pain. He took a pokeball from his belt, and tossed it downwards towards the bug pokemon. "I'm sorry." He said softly, as the pokemon disappeared in the brilliant red light. This time, the ball didn't even shake, as the Pinsir submitted to its fate.

Ken picked up the pokeball, and put it on his belt. By this time, the sun was set, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. He turned around, and walked back towards where he came; at least where he thought he came from.

Sebastian was tending to the fire in front of him for a few hours now. Damon hasn't come to yet, and Ken was still out in the forest somewhere. 'Where the hell is Ken?' Sebastian thought to himself. 'I hope he is ok out there.' He threw another stick into the fire, and laid down on the charred grass.

"Now why are you lying down on the ground Sebastian?" murmured a voice behind him.

Sebastian sat up, and saw Damon standing weakly over him, clutching the side of his chest. "Thanks for patching me up by the way, I appreciate it."

"You ok?" Sebastian asked him. Damon bent down, letting out a small groan.

"Yeahh…ive been hurt worse though. How long have I been out though?"

"About two hours, maybe more."

"Where is Ken?"

"He took off after the Pinsir." Damon nodded, and looked around the campsite. He noticed the scorched earth around him.

"Did Ken do all of this?" Damon asked. "Yeah, that Magby is strong for being a baby pokemon."

"So is the Elekid you have Sebastian." Damon replied. "Where did you catch theses dude?" inquired Sebastian. Damon looked into the night sky, and closed his eyes for a second, deep in thought. "Far off, near Chesto city. I bred them there. Were a long way from there though."

Sebastian nodded, and just stared at the campfire he made. "You ok man?" a concerned Damon asked.

"Oh..yeah…its just..why did it attack us like that?" Sebastian replied.

"Hmm…well some pokemon are more aggressive based on their nature. That might be why it attacked us. Maybe we went into its territory or something." Replied Damon. "It should be fine, if Ken comes back. He probably chased the Pinsir from this area."

Sebastain kept his head down, now deep in thought about his friend Ken. "Ken is tough, he should be all right." Sebastian said. 'I hope so at least.' He thought to himself privately.

Just then, there was a rustling from the bushes behind them. Damon and Sebastian both jumped up from shock and freight, and were looking at the moving bushes. Damon was clutching his side with one hand, and was reaching for a pokeball in the other, while Sebastian lifted a nearby stick for his own protection. The rustling got louder, until the figure in the bushes was visible in the dim firelight.

"FINALLY! I FOUND YOU GUYS!" Yelled Ken, who had huge grin on his face. Sebastian and Damon eased up, and Sebastian walked up to his friend and gave him a hug. "I'm glad your ok dude. What happened with the Pinsir?" he asked him.

"Well, I caught him! It was tough, but I caught him." Said Ken gleefully.

"Good job dude!" said Sebastian. Damon nodded his own approval. "

Not bad Ken. You did good back there." He said back. "Gee, thanks Damon. I 'appreciate' the nod." Said Ken sarcastically. "I'm glad you still got that over-confidence Ken." Replied Damon. Ken glared at him for a moment, and just sat down near the campfire.

"You guys, let's have a good night ok?" pleaded Sebastian. Both Ken and Damon looked at Sebastian and just nodded. "I need some sleep anyway." Murmured Ken, as he unrolled his sleeping bag from his backpack. "You guys have a good night ok?"

Sebastian smiled, and wished his friend goodnight. He and Damon stayed up for a while more, watching the stars in the night sky.

"Your friend is a hot-head you know?" remarked Damon at one point. Sebastian looked at him with a hint of anger.

"Dude, that's not cool. He means well he's just rough around the edges, that's all."

"He needs to learn to think and be patient, and to be more careful when handling pokemon in a forest. I'm glad he got the Pinsir, but he was reckless in capturing it. Never go out in the woods at night to capture a pokemon, unless you're with a group of people. Weird shit happens at night."

Sebastian just listened to Damon again, preaching once more an important lesson. "I'll talk to him, ok. I just..I just want us to be friends and all, you know." Damon nodded his approval.

"I know Sebastian, and I'm willing, but so far he isn't," replied Damon. Sebastian laid back on the ground, putting his hands under his head, and stared into the stars.

"Give it time dude, give it time." He said softly. Sebastian kept looking at the stars, and with a big yawn, he excused himself and went into his tent to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7 Fours A Crowd

CHAPTER 7- Fours a Crowd

After spending a few days in the Ridge woods, Sebastian, Ken and Damon made their way to the rest area by the lake. It was a beautiful site to Sebastian and Ken, with crystal clear water and a running stream, heading right into the oval shaped lake. The clearing had a number of tents dotting over its rolling emerald hills, and trainers scattered all over the lakeshore. Some of them were eating a picnic lunch; others were taking a swim in the lake. There were even a pokemon battle going on, and a crowd of fifteen or so trainers was watching the action.

"Check that out!" an excited Ken shouted, running towards the crowd of trainers. Damon and Sebastian followed suit, joining the throng of people in the circle near the lake. The battle was apparently a hotly contested match, as the crowd of young trainers was cheering loudly.

The two trainers fighting seemed to be more experienced in battling. Both were barking orders like mad to the two pokemon they had out. The first trainer was a tall, lanky guy wearing a red baseball cap. His pokemon was an Oddish, which was currently dodging the attacks of the second pokemon, a Jigglypuff. The Jigglypuff was trying to pound the weed in front of it, but kept missing.

Sebastian looked up and saw the back of the other trainer, he had short hair in a ponytail, and was tall and thin, wearing a crimson tanktop and blue cut off jeans, but he couldn't see anything else, as the crowd was large at this point. Then, he heard a high-pitched female voice shouting above all else.

"Ok Jigglypuff, grab it and double slap!" she shouted. The pokemon grabbed the Oddish by the weeds on its head then lifted it from the ground. It began to smack the tiny grass type in the face, the Oddish yelping with each successful slap.

"Oddish, try a stun spore!" cried the male trainer. The Oddish struggled to shoot the spore, but the Jigglypuffs hand's held the stem of the weeds, and the stun spore couldn't get out.

"Keep it up, and try a body slam Jigglypuff!"

"Jiggly!" yelped the pink puffball, as it stop slapping the Oddish and then used it's full weight to pound it onto the grassy floor. The grass type was dazed, and was definitely tired, but was still standing, although barely able to stand upright after the heavy blows dealt to him.

"Oddish, absorb some energy!" cried the male trainer. The Oddish tilted its body, and concentrated for a moment, as the weeds on its head began to glow a light green. Soon small green orbs floated from its head, hitting into the Jigglypuff. The green orbs then turned blue, and as if it were a dazzling light show, floated back to Oddish, entering the top of it's head again. "Oooddd..ish.." panted the grass type, as it stood up straight this time, gaining energy from the absorb attack.

Throughout the battle, Sebastian was paying attention to one thing above all else. The female trainer who was ordering the Jigglypuff kept all of his attention. She turned around, and Sebastian felt his heart skip a beat for a moment. Her large blue eyes had an intensity that he has never seen. Her deep crimson tanktop shirt and faded cutoff jeans matched them perfectly, and complimented her tanned complexion. Her auburn hair was cut short and neatly cut on top of her head, in a small ponytail giving her a more frontierswoman look. Her face was almost angelic, with creamy golden skin and beautifully shaped lips.

'Wow', Sebastian thought to himself, 'She is gorgeous…'

"DIISSSH!" cried the Oddish in battle, snapping Sebastian back into reality.

He looked and saw the tiny grass type shoot leaves out of its weedy head and to it's opponent. The Jigglypuff began to duck and dodge the razor sharp leaves, but was not fast enough and got nicked by a few of them, leaving a minor gash on its left cheek. The crowd dispersed for a moment, as the sharp leaves went whirling past some onlooker's legs and into the trees behind them, whizzing by like thrown darts.

"JIGGGGLYY!" cried the puffball, in clear pain. Its trainer had the fiery look in her eyes again. "I'm not losing this one, Jigglypuff, take it down!" she yelled out! The Pink pokemon geared its body, its large eyes closing as it concentrated. It's feet stood its ground for a moment, leaning back, and it's body expanded a bit, ballooning up for it's next move. It then charged at full force towards the Oddish.

"DODGE IT!" cried the male trainer, but it was a little to late, as the pink pokemon hit it in full force, knocking it downwards. The Oddish tried to lift itself this time, but it could barely get its leaves up. The male trainer recalled it, and conceded the match to his adversary.

"Good battle Sophie." The male trainer said, as he put his pokeball away in his backpack and walked away. The girl, Sophie, smiled and grabbed her own pokeball. "Return Jigglypuff." She said, as the pokemon retreated in a red flash. She tilted her head backwards and looked at the throng of people around her.

"Who's next?" she asked the crowd. The group of onlookers just stared, some of them walking away, going back to their tents. Others were murmuring to themselves, deciding if they want to attempt a match against the experienced trainer in front of them. Sebastian was still deep in his own thoughts, paralyzed by the physical beauty that was before him.

"I WILL!" he suddenly yelled, causing Ken and Damon to look lat him in near shock. Sophie looked at him, and instead of questioning why he yelled, she just nodded and motioned him to come over here.

"She is a tough trainer Sebastian, you sure?" Damon asked.

"Finally something that we can agree on." Stated Ken. He turned to his friend and said, "You sure dude, you might lose."

"So what?" Sebastian nearly snapped back.

"Got to fight to win you know?" He turned towards Sophie, smiling a goofy grin and walking towards her, his face as red as a tomato.

"That was weird…." Said Ken, his face with a puzzled look on it. Damon just looked on at Sebastian rather coldly. 'What is he up to….' He thought to himself.

Sebastian walked closer to Sophie; his mind was racing with every step on what his next action should be.

'Should I say hi? Should I shake her hand? What if I make an ass of myself? What should I do?' he lamented over and over in his mind. His nervousness was showing at this point; sweating heavily in the cool breeze of the forest, his hands were trembling a bit, so he kept them in the pockets of his shorts. His face was still red, blushing as if he was embarrassed to even come close to the trainer he challenged.

He finally was close enough to greet Sophie. Sebastian extended his trembling hand and cleared his throat.

"Um…I'm Sebastian and it's nice to..um meet…"

"Yeah, yeah, my names Sophie kid. Ok lets get this over with dude. Get ready to lose." The girl replied, grabbing his hand and shaking it violently. Sebastian almost yelped in pain from her grip.

"So…um…how old are you Sophie?" He asked her. "I'm 18 but that has no relevance buddy, lets go and get this done with, jeez!" she said harshly.

" I like simple, so let's keep it one on one Sebastian." She smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth. "Lets get this on boy!" she cried excitingly, as she turned around and took position near the edge of the lake where she was before.

Sebastian, still blushing in the face, nodded and followed suit to his position. 'Wow, this is so cool…I hope I can impress her…' He was thinking to himself, trying to get serious for a moment.

Sophie grabbed one of her pokeballs and threw it on the ground. In a flash, a small green figure appeared. It's big yellow eyes darted all over the field, checking around to see its competition. The Treeko was waiting for it's opponent. "Ok, let's make this even then." Sebastian said confidently. He picked his pokeball, and threw it on the ground. His Seedot came out jumping, full of energy and eager to battle.

By this time, the circle was intact again; most of the trainers from last time were here to see this battle between the two trainers. Ken and Damon were off to the side, looking on at Sebastian.

"You think he will win?" Ken asked Damon.

"Who knows? I think he is blinded though by that girl. So he is already not paying attention." He replied back.

"You never have _anything_ nice to say don't you?" Ken snapped back. Damon just shrugged his shoulders.

"I call it as I see it Ken. Forget it and let's see how he does in this one."

Both trainers scanned the grassy field, the two grass types in the middle of it, with Sebastian and Sophie at the ends. Sebastian was clearing his throat for a second, and shouted out to Sophie.

"This should be good Sophie, good luck." he said to her.

"Luck is for wimps kid" scoffed Sophie, who kept her eyes on the Seedot. "Ok Treeko, lets get this party started, give it a pound attack!" cried Sophie.

The Treeko was quick, going on all fours and running at top speed towards the Seedot. Its tail was arched backwards, like a whip ready to strike. "Seedot jump, and use a bullet seed!" commanded Sebastian.

The acorn obliged, and jumped high into the air as the Treeko was about to smash it with its tail. The Treeko though, not to be undone, jumped as well, surpassing the flying acorn in the air by a few inches, and in a quick motion used it's tail to smack the Seedot onto the ground.

"Oh no!" cried Sebastian. Sophie had a devilish grin on her face and just laughed.

"Got to do better than that! Treeko this time give him a quick attack before it gets up again!" she ordered the pokemon.

"Tree!" cried the lizard, this time moving faster than Sebastian could see. The Seedot was trying to get up, but the Treeko got to it first, hitting it this time with it's head.

Seedot flew back once again, this time hitting the ground hard. "Shit!" cried Sebastian. "Seedot, get up, and try to harden yourself!" he shouted back. The pokemon this time was able to get up, although it was shaking a bit from the hits it suffered, but shortly after it's body began to glow. Once it subsided, the acorn looked impeccably shiny, nearly blinding in the midday sun with it's hardened body. And not a moment to soon, as the Treeko hit it from behind with its quick attack. This time though, Seedot stood it's ground, its new defense helping it repel the impact of the hit.

"Ok Treeko, keep up the quick attack, and break that shell of his now!" The Treeko turned around to make another pass at it. "Seedot bide your time!" cried Sebastian. "Seeeddd." It said back, standing it's ground. The Seedot then entrenched itself, using the pointed tip of its belly to attach to the ground while the Treeko continued it's barrage of quick attacks, ramming into it again and again. Seedot was pushed back and forth, like a inflatable doll, but was still standing its ground, its big eyes were closed, concentrating on what it had to do.

On the sidelines, Ken was ready to explode with anger. "Why the hell is he letting it get hit? How can that help him?" He yelped angrily.

Damon just smiled a bit. 'Good idea Sebastian' he thought to himself, 'You're learning fast….'

Sophie herself was perplexed by Sebastian's choices.

'This guy is a dumbass, sitting there taking it. This is to easy.'

"Ok Treeko, stop the quick attack and go for the kill. CRUSH CLAW NOW!" she yelled.

Treeko kept circling his opponent, and in a flash stopped right in front of it, raising its hand and extending itthe's tiny claws used for climbing.

"UNLEASH IT SEEDOT!" cried Sebastian. Seedot opened its eyes, now glowing red. Its body trembled, glowing red as well, shaking violently for a few seconds, before screaming a loud "SSEEEEDDD!" A wave of energy bursted from its body, and hit into Treeko heavily, knocking it backwards onto the ground.

"Holy shit!" cried Sophie, a look of disbelief on her face. "Treeko get up!" she cried, but the grass type wasn't moving at all. Seedot, after using energy like that, sat on the floor, totally exhausted. Sophie saw that the battle was over. "Treeko, return." She whispered, her head hanging low from her defeat.

Sebastian recalled his Seedot, and was greeted by a number of trainers, praising him for his success in his battle. Sebastian himself was happy that he won finally, but wanted to speak to Sophie first. She was walking towards the end of the lake, and heading to a tent near the edge of the woods.

"HEY WAIT!" Sebastian yelled at her, but she didn't even look up to acknowledge him.

"Sophie wait…I wanted to say it was a good battle…" he began to say, but was cut off by Sophie who put her hand in front of his face.

"Shut up, you won, nice match, leave me be now buddy!" She snapped at him.

"But….it was just…"

"It was a bad match for _me_!" she said back at him. "Look, just leave me be ok. I need time alone." She said, before entering into her tent. Sebastian looked confused, and without thinking went inside her large tent to see her, closing the velcro flap behind him.

Her tent was like any normal one, but with a few additives. She had a fold up chair and table with a few scattered papers on the tabletop. She also had a ton of food boxes lying on the ground. As well as that, she had a large sleeping bag with a custom Dragonite drawing on it, something unusual as few people have custom sleeping bags like hers. 'This is no ordinary girl.' He thought to himself, as he approached her, sitting on the fold up chair, her head looking at the tent's ceiling.

"I thought I told you to…" Sophie began to say angrily, but this time Sebastian cut her off.

"Look, I'm sorry that you lost, but you are a tough trainer. You can kick anyone's ass out there. So be proud of what you accomplished. You can't win them all you know, that would be boring if you did, you know…" Sebastian said calmly, despite the fact that he didn't know what else to say. "It's all for good fun anyway right?" He asked her.

'For you maybe, for me the stakes are higher.' She thought to herself.

"Yeah I guess so…never thought of it that way before."

"You take it seriously?" asked Sebastian.

"You don't?" retorted Sophie.

"Battling is a trainers life buddy. If you suck at it, you might as well quit now." Sebastian just nodded.

"I guess we both a got a lot to learn." He said.

"Why you a rookie?" asked Sophie. Sebastian nodded.

"But so are you, so were in good…."

"I AM NO ROOKIE BUDDY!" she shouted back at him.

"NEVER CALL ME A ROOKIE!"

"Ok ok, calm down please Sophie." Sebastian pleaded, now slightly frightened by her. Sophie looked at him for a second with an icy stare, before softening up at the obvious shaken boy.

"I'm sorry…that's a touchy subject for me."

"It's cool Sophie, it's cool."

Just then, there was a knock on the tent flap. Someone was hitting the fabric "Hey Seb! Come on out for a second." Ken called.

"So um, where are you heading?" Sebastian asked, totally ignoring his friends outside. Sophie stuttered, and to a second to reply.

"Well…I um.. I go wherever I like to. I'm a free roamer. I also want to get as many gym battles as I can. So far I got one badge." She replied. She held up her bag to prove her story.

"Wow cool." Sebastian exclaimed. "Hey…um…you travel alone right?" he asked her.

"Well yeah I…." "SEB! COME ON OUT!" shouted Ken from the outside, interrupting Sophie. "Maybe you should answer your friend out there…." "I will in a second." Sebastian replied. He then cleared his throat, as his heart skipped a beat just thinking about his next question.

"Would you…um, like to travel with me…I mean us? Me my friends outside? It will be fun im sure, some company plus some new friends and stuff?" He said, running out of breath towards the end of his sentence. His heart was pounding fast now; it felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

"Hmm…ill see kid, no go to your friends." She said, shooing Sebastian away. Sebastian just blushed and excused himself, opening the tent flap and heading outside.

"Dude, were going to head out." Ken said the moment he saw his friend.

"Were are about two hours from the exit of the forest, and we can make it to Liechi by nightfall." Damon chimed in.

"Ok ok, but is it ok if Sophie comes with us?" asked Sebastian. Both Damon and Ken looked confused.

"Who?" asked Damon.

"The girl I just battled. We have been talking, and I would like her to come with us."

"Seb I don't know…"Ken began to say, before he was cut off by Sebastian's pleading.

"Oh come on man. She is traveling alone, she has experience, and she is pretty cool. Why not, I mean the more the merrier." Sebastian said gleefully.

"Dude, come with me for a second." Ken said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to walk towards the silted bed of the lake.

"What what is it?" asked Sebastian.

"Dude, it's bad enough we have Damon, but now this chick? I mean come on. It was only supposed to be me and you, the dynamic duo dude. Now were making a crowd here. I really don't want anyone else to come with us."

"Ken, you got to understand something. This girl…she…she makes my stomachs tie in knots. I like her a lot, and I want to….um…get to know her." said the blushing Sebastian. His stammering made it obvious what he was thinking of.

Ken had an angry look in his eye.

"Let me get this straight, you got the hot's for that chick?" Ken asked.

Sebastian just blushed some more and nodded. Ken let out a deep sigh, and nodded back, "I was hoping I would get some first Seb." He said back, smiling. Both boys burst in laughter for a second, before regaining their composure. Sebastian broke the silence first.

"Ok, I'm going to tell her the good news. Thanks buddy!" said Sebastian, who hugged his friend and ran off to tell her the good news.

"No…problem." Said Ken. Unfortunately he was thinking something else.

'I should be happy for him….why do I feel so upset though?' he asked himself. Ken was not the only one deep in thought, as Damon as well was beginning to think about this new revelation.

'This girl…she will either be more problems…or she can be used to my advantage…' he thought to himself. 'Perhaps I can…no, that's just wrong, I couldn't do that to the three of them. Still, I can't let the others catch up to me.' He thought to himself, pondering his next move. 'Four is a crowd, but you can get lost in a crowd easily…' he thought, trying to decide what to do.

Inside the tent, another discussion was occurring.

"You sure I won't be a burden. No no, not at all, I promise. I mean, the guys don't care, and I sure don't, it's up to you now Sophie." Sebastian stated.

"Hmmm…I _have_ traveled alone for a while, and I _am_ used to it. I don't really think I need you guys at all." She said coldly. "BUT….your kind of a cool guy, and you probably won't be like the other jerks around here. Most of them give me cat calls for some reason." She muttered, practically spitting out the last of her sentence.

"We won't do that. The three of us are perfect gentleman," said Sebastian proudly. "So what do you say?" asked Sebastian, pleading at this point. His face was redder than a ripe cherry.

Sophie just kept her eyes on Sebastian, watching his face turn different shades of red. 'Man this guy must be a virgin or something…' she thought to herself.

"Ok, ill go with you guys. When do we leave?" She said.

Sebastian, about ready to jump for joy, nearly yelled out loud "Were leaving now! Let's go!" In the back of his mind, he was thinking to himself,

'YES! YES YES YES SHE IS COMING WITH US! Wow…I never thought I would be so happy about something like this….I can't wait to see her in action again, she is a tough trainer.'

"You going to just stand there, or you going to help me pack kid?" Sophie said sternly, snapping Sebastian back to reality. She was already rolling up her sleeping bag.

"Oh yeah, sure." Sebastian said back, grabbing a few of the boxes on the ground. 'This has been a good day.' He kept thinking to himself, smiling as he helped his new friend clean her tent.


	8. Chapter 8 Night Fright

Chapter 8- Night Fright

As darkness passed over the grassy hills of the Enkada region, the group of four was still trekking towards the ever growing lights in the distance. About 5 miles away the dim lights of Liechi city can be seen, glowing like a beacon for the trainers to follow. Dark clouds covered the stars in the sky; as a pale moon was hung over the travelers.

"So how long until we get to the city Seb?" Ken asked his friend, who threw his head back in a loud yawn.

"How should I know man? Am I the navigator now?" Sebastian replied back. "Well, you do kind of hog the map dude." Ken said back. Sebastian looked at him for a second, and just rolled his eyes. Ken and Sophie began to chuckle a bit.

"I am actually glad I was able to join you guys," Sophie said cheerfully. "Your all pretty damn cool, like my friends back home."  
"Where is that Sophie?" Sebastian asked her. She closed her eyes for a second, deep in thought.  
"Well…" she began, her voice going a bit higher due to nervousness, "I live in Hondew town. My dad….he's…he's the gym leader in the town there. Tough guy, you know." She said meekly, struggling to place the words.

"Oh cool!" exclaimed Ken.

"I take it you are not that fond of him, are you?" Damon remarked.

Sophie's face drooped, and flushed red with rage; her eyes nearly retreated back into her head.

"NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN DAMON," she screamed. HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY FATHER LIKE THAT!"

"Ok, ok jeez relax." Damon said calmly. "I'm sorry about that."

Sophie nodded her head, and smiled her normal smile. "It's ok Damon, im sorry I got all upset."

"That is fine. We all have things we wish to keep secret.." Damon trailed off. He then turned around and began to stare at the moon. Sophie began growling in anger, but before she could say anything, Sebastian cut her off.

"What about you Damon, where are your family from?" Sebastian asked him. Damon kept his eyes onto the sky, deep in thought as he always is.

"I…I lived around, me and my family. We moved from Drash city to Pumkin Island and back. Lived in Belue port the longest, before….before my mother died. Since then I have kind of been on my own." He said, with no emotion coming from his mouth. Sebastian, Ken and Sophie stopped walking. All of them had their mouths wide open in semi shock.

"Damon im…."Sebastian began to say, struggling to even comprehend the story he just heard.

"No don't worry about it, Sebastian, you didn't know…I…keep it to myself." Damon said softly.

"I can relate though, I don't remember my father that well." Sebastian replied, taking a seat on a moist patch of grass. Everyone followed suit in the darkness, forming a semi-circle while talking.

"He left home a while back, when I was like 6 or 7. Well not leave like he was not coming back, I mean...he was a salesman and stuff. So he kept contact all the time, but… but we haven't heard from him in a long time. My mom took it hard, and my sister doesn't even remember him. Mom never says anything, but she fears he is probably with another woman, or worse…" Sebastian said dryly.

Sophie took a deep sigh, and put her palms on the back of her head and laid down onto the grass, looking at the dimly lit sky.

"My mom died four years ago from cancer." She said in a somber tone. "It's been rough since then, my dad doesn't do much gym stuff, because him and mom worked as a team. I inherited most of my mom's pokemon…but it's just not the same really when battling."

"How long were they gym leaders?" asked Damon.

"Since I was born I remember them, they're not the most famous gym leaders in the world, but they do an excellent job as a team."

"I did visit Hondew once, was denied a battle however." Remarked Damon.

"That happens, Damon. My dad only battles once or twice a week now, and he usually has his friend do most of the work."

"What about you, can't you take over?" asked Sebastian. Sophie's face filled with rage again, her eyes quivering this time at Sebastian's remark.

"Yeah, but I CHOOSE not to. Is that a problem?" She said defensively. Sebastian was shaken by her aggression, and just smiled and whimpered, "No no, it's ok Sophie."

"Damn guys," Ken said, suddenly, "I really feel bad right now."

"Why's that?" asked Sophie.

"Well, its just that Seb never really knew his dad, and you and Damon lost your mom's early on…it just seems like I can never feel what you guys feel you know." Ken said meekly. Damon nodded for a bit and put his hand on Ken's shoulder.

"Never experienced loss before, have you?" Damon said.

"No…I mean yeah like my pet dog died, and my grandma and stuff, but not my mom, my dad, nothing like that. They were always there for me, always encouraging you know? Telling me to be the best I can be…" Ken said, the thoughts of his family back at Ganlon bringing swelling tears into his eyes.

"And I'm happy for you dude, always was. Never worry about them you know. They will be proud of you no matter what." Sebastian said to his friend.

"You know, after a while you're a nice guy you know that Ken?" Damon said with a smirk on his face. Ken just grinned and chuckled a bit.

"Gee thanks Damon. I appreciate it." He replied.

"You finally over that match?" Sebastian asked. Ken shot him a glance and shook his head.

" Hell no, but were having a tender moment!" Ken exclaimed. The teens bursted out in laughter, releasing the raw emotions that the group shared with each other.

"Well guys," Sophie stated, getting up from her spot on the grass, "I hate to be the only boy in the group, but we got to stop the sap fest and get our asses to Liechi."

"Heh, since when are you a boy?" Ken remarked sarcastically. Sophie smiled and hit him playfully in the arm.

"I am probably more of a boy then you!" she said back. Sebastian laughed deep on that one, while Damon just smiled.

"Oh, well see about that once we reach Liechi gym! I will make sure I get the first badge from there!" Ken snapped back, challenging Sophie. Sophie just nodded her head and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah hotshot, lets keep moving."

The lights of Liechi city immediately woke up the tired trainers as soon as they walked past the front gate. The bright yellow lights of the skyscrapers and lampposts kept them all aware of their new surroundings. Ken and Sebastian in particular had their eyes widened and their mouths open; this was the first time they have ever been in Liechi since they were two years old. Even during the night, the city was hot with action. Clubs and bars were open for the adults, and teenagers were walking the streets in packs, discussing random nonsense things that happened to them during the day. Restaurants were still open, and packed with people enjoying a fine meal, even in the late hours of the night. It was as if the city never closed, and everything was open twenty-four seven. By the time the foursome reached the pokecenter in town, they were eager to head out again.

"Anyone want to go into a club or something?" asked Sophie

"No, I don't like crowded rooms." Damon said.

"And why is that?" Sophie asked. Damon just smirked for a second.  
"I'm not a people person." Damon said flatly.

"No shit." Muttered Ken under his breath.

"Guys, let's go in now, might as well get some rest for tonight." Sebastian said, as he opened the glass door to the pokecenter.

"Eh..I guess your right. We can go clubbing tomorrow night." Sophie sighed.

Like the pokecenter in Rawst, the fresh paint and white washed walls gave an atmosphere of familiarity to the trainers. The only addition to this center was that it had a pokemart built inside as well, so that it would be easier for the trainers to purchase items. There were some trainers up still, talking and eating at the cafeteria, while others were more than likely sleeping in the dormitories.

"Ok, I am starving!" Ken nearly shouted, running into the cafeteria immediately. Damon went straight to the dormitories, not even bothering to say anything to the group.

"He's a charming one." Sophie commented.

"He is kind of serious all the time," Sebastian said, "It's better to listen to his advice over anything else."

"Advice? What is he an expert in pokemon now?" Sophie remarked.

"No, but he is powerful." Replied Sebastian.

By this time they were both near the dormitories. Inside, they saw a large number of bodies, lying down in the beds sleeping. Damon was among them, using his backpack as a pillow and looking up into the ceiling, trying to sleep as well. Sophie let out a big yawn, and then turned toward the shower area.

"Well, I am going to take a shower and get to bed, night Sebastian." She said.

"Oh yeah, I want to take one to," Sebastian replied, putting his backpack down and getting ready to take his shirt off. Before he could pull it over his head, Sophie grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled his shirt back downwards.

"Not a chance buddy, I'm going in there alone, no boys allowed." She said, walking into the bathroom smiling to herself.

"Uh..I didn't mean with you….I mean there is a girls room and….." struggled Sebastian, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Heh, you know your cute when you get embarrassed." Remarked Sophie, who then winked at the red-faced teen before closing and locking the doors to the women's shower behind her.

Sebastian just stood there in awe, his face dropped slightly from embarrassment, before shaking it off and heading into the men's shower.

Sebastian was unsure how this happened. One minute he was trying to get some sleep, the next there he was, standing naked in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but a autumn forest in front of him, the leaves falling off the tree in brilliant red and orange colors. The grass was up to his waist, a deep green color that contrasted the auburn canopy but Sebastian kept one of his hands over his genitals, and looked around sharply for cover just in case if someone…or something, passed by.

'What the fuck is this?' he thought to himself. He kept his body down in the field he was in, hiding himself in the tall grass.

Suddenly he heard a rustling sound. Sebastian kept his head down, making sure that his body was hidden from anyone's view. The rustling sound came closer to him, as Sebastian's heart pounded in his chest, chills running down the base of his spine. He looked up, and his eyes bulged with bewilderment as he saw a figure, dressed in a white suit, standing in the middle of the field, looking upwards. Sebastian kept his head down, watching the figure, but he began to creep closer to the figure, the curiosity getting the better of him.

After a few moments, Sebastian was right behind the man in white, who kept his eyes on the clear blue sky. Sebastian shot himself up, still covering his genitals with his hand, looking at the man's back. Then, out of nowhere, the man began to say something.

"Glad you are here, Sebastian." A deep voice said.

"Dad?!" Sebastian screamed, grabbing the man's shoulder and pulling him so that he could see his face. Sebastian jumped back once he did this, for instead of seeing his father's face, it was nothing but two, big red eyes staring back at him. The thing in the suit roared all of a sudden, and Sebastian screamed back.

"NOOO!" he screamed, as the thing in white grabbed his arm.

Ken couldn't believe his luck. Making the finals in the World Pokemon Tour was a dream of his, and he couldn't believe he actually did it. The crowd was on his side, cheering for him as he had the advantage against his opponent. Although the field was a rocky mountain, he felt good about the type advantage he had now.

"NOW SPEAROW, ARIAL ACE!" Screamed Ken, as his opponent, cloaked in nothing but a black hood, just nodded it's head. Ken thought it was strange that his opponent never spoke, but his pokemon, a Machop, had no chance in defeating him. The wily bird was to fast for the Machop to grab, and the advantage it had with the terrain was not helping the grounded fighter at all.

As Ken's spearow circled the air, its wings began to glow a radiant white light. It flew down low, aiming straight for the Machop's head. The figure in black just nodded again, and the Machop's body began to glow, its eyes staring straight up at Ken's Spearow. As the bird flew in to hit the Machop, it grabbed it's wings and slammed it on the ground, then began to pummel it with punches until the bird pokemon began to lose some of it's feathers. The referee kept the match going, despite Ken's objections.

"WHAT THE FUCK REF, THIS IS UNFAIR. DAMNIT!" Ken shouted. The referee kept his mouth shut, as the Machop kept up his barrage. Ken's Spearow shrieked numerous times, until the sounds coming from it silenced for good. The Machop finished his barrage until there was nothing but a bloody pulp on the ground.

"Ww…what…no!" screamed Ken! The ref held up a red flag, signaling that his opponent won the match. The man in black removed his hood, and Ken nearly had a heat attack seeing the person across from him.

"Your next." Said Damon, who had a devilish grin on his face. His eyes were red with fire, his mouth gleaming as he smirked back at Ken, then suddenly he leaped into the air and in one swift motion, jumped onto the platform that Ken was on. Ken tried to run away, but Damon grabbed him by the neck and held him over the pokemon battlefield, choking the teen with superhuman strength. Ken was losing oxygen quickly, meekly struggling to talk, but barely able to get any words out.

"Goodbye, KEN!" said Damon devilishly; as he let go of Ken's throat, who felt like he was falling for eternity to the stone ground of the battlefield.

Damon was confused about what was happening. He heard his mom screaming in her bedroom, like she usually does every night with her current "boyfriend" as she called him, but this time it didn't sound right to her. After moving to his new home here, he didn't want to bother his mom and her new friend. After all, why would an 8 year old do such a thing? Wait a minute, 8 years old?

Damon checked himself out, his small body was sitting in his old bedroom at his old house, clad in his light blue pajamas, staring at the pale brown wood of his bedroom. The posters of various cartoon characters, pokemon and celebrities were abound, as well as his old toy chest, now mostly empty because he sold most of them for cash in a garage sale.

'No…not this again…' he thought to himself. He got up, shivering as his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor. The curiosity to see him mom won over any reason as he crept to see how his mom was. He knew he shouldn't bother her, but he also knew that he had to make sure his mommy was all right.

Damon saw the light coming from his mother's bedroom; her screams were soft, but clear. Inside there was a man's voice as well.

"YOU WANT THE FUCKING MONEY, THEN STOP THE CRYING BITCH!" the man shouted.

"NOOOO…I SAID NO, NEVER DOIN THAT…YOUCH!" Cried Damon's mother; after she felt the slap hit her.

Damon opened the door slightly so that he could see what was going on, as the man in his mother's bedroom kept on slapping her in the face. The man was only in his pants, his shirt long discarded onto the floor and his shoes tucked in a corner. His rugged face showed lots of aggression as he slapped Damon's mother again. His mom was naked, covering her slender frame with the bed sheets, trying to push the stranger off of her.

Tears were running down her cheeks now, causing Damon to clench his hands with rage, making tiny fists. He bursted into his mother's bedroom; charging right at the man as he kept trying to slap her in the face.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU JERK!" The young boy squeaked, as he jumped on top of the man, trying to outmuscle him. The man was shocked at first by the tiny attacker, but then pushed him off the bed hard, his head hitting the wooden floor with a large bump.

"You little piece of shit…"the man began to say, before he himself was slapped in the face, this time by Damon's mother.

"Don't you EVER talk to my SON like that you low life!" she snapped at him.

The man, with his eyes wide and his face red with anger, punched Damon's mother in the face, knocking her head back on the bedpost. Her nose was busted open, red blood gushing down her nostrils.

"Oh, your gonna pay!" the man said enraged, grabbing Damon's mother by her hair and dragging her down on the floor. Damon himself was powerless to stop him, as the throw knocked him out cold. His eyes were still open, but his young body wouldn't move at all, as if he was paralyzed to do anything. He was crying, because he kept hearing his mother screaming, begging for the man to stop, until that finally ceased as well.

Sophie was on the top of the world. Her winning streak was up to fourteen, as she vanquished another hopeful at the Hondew Gym. 'Surely he will be proud of me now.' She thought to herself, as she recalled her Treeko and saw her opponent leave the gym. She went into the private room and went to the upstairs apartment where they all lived in.

Sophie went upstairs and found her dad relaxing on the sofa, watching a tournament match on the television. Today was his day off, and usually his friend, Andre, runs the gym for him. For once, Andre wasn't needed.

"Dad! Dad! I beat fourteen in a row today!" cried Sophie, waiting to see her father for any type of reaction. He just stayed in his seat, not even looking up to pay attention to his daughter.

"Dad," Sophie said again, hoping that his father would pay attention, "Aren't you happy for me?" she asked him. This time, her father turned his head and looked at her big, blue eyes. His face looked saddened, his brown and gray hair disheveled slightly and his brown eyes bloodshot.

"Why is Andre letting you participate down there?" he asked her flat out, keeping his gaze on her.

"He said I have potential to be a good trainer, and that I should practice with the pokemon Jim doesn't use." She said back meekly. Jim, her older brother, is a struggling pokemon trainer. He has been out of the house for a few years, but has yet to win a badge. In Sophie's mind, he was not a strong trainer and would be better off with a real job.

"I really don't care honey," Her father said back to her in an angry tone. "I don't want you to go out there and getting beat by those boys who think they can win a badge from this gym!"

"But dad…"

"Don't _BUT DAD_ me, Sophie! I don't want my daughter to go down there and flaunt it like some boy would, you understand me!" By this time her father was up from the couch, his hands up in the air flaying around like mad. Sophie was almost in tears.

"Why don't you just be like a normal girl and play with some dolls or something? Why do you have to be so manly? God damnit! Why!" her dad kept wailing, pacing back and forth in the living room. Sophie's head was hung low, tears streaming from her cheeks.

"You know what, forget it. Go to your room please, id rather not talk right now." He said, sighing in defeat as he sat back down on the plush chair, his gaze returning to the television. Sophie looked back at him, and felt the room get smaller and smaller around her, as if it was imploding around her.

"DAD!" she cried out to her father, but by this time the room was so small, she could barely breathe.

Sophie woke up, her head darting upwards after coming out of her bad dream, cold sweat pouring out of her face and on to the worn sheets of the pokecenter dormitory. She sniffled a bit, and put her head down back on the pillow, tears swelling up in her eyes.

Sebastian woke up suddenly, shooting himself out of bead. Beads of sweat were running down his body. He checked to see if he was all right, running his hands down his chest and shoulders. He never really wore a shirt to bed, but he always kept his pants on just in case he was in a hurry. He saw from a nearby window that the sun was out; the rays of light were shining through the windows. He checked to see if Damon was still asleep under him, but was not surprised to see a bare mattress already in the place of where Damon once slept.

Sebastian got up and jumped from the top of his bunk bed. He put his t-shirt back on, and grabbed his backpack from the floor before walking outside of the dormitory. He saw Ken, Damon and Sophie all sitting down near the lounge in the front, each of them had a cup of juice in their hands and were engaged in mindless chatter.

"Good morning Seb," Ken said as Sebastian walked over to where they were sitting. "You sleep well?" He asked him.

"No, not really," Sebastian replied. "I had a weird dream last night about my dad for some reason."

" Hey I had a strange dream to, I was in a pokemon tournament and I lost." Ken said suddenly. Damon just smiled at that.

"Why the smile, Damon?" Ken said, nearly spitting out Damon's name.

"Oh nothing," he said back "I to had a restless night, but I couldn't really get to sleep to begin with."

"Well then, it looks like I am the only one who is ready for that gym," Sophie said sarcastically. "Sebastian, get some grub and eat, you'll need the strength." Sebastian just smiled back at her rather dreamily, and nodded.

"Oh yeah, I can't wait for it." Sebastian said, full of confidence.


	9. Chapter 9 How Strong Are You?

Chapter 9- How Strong Are You?

It seemed like forever, but Sebastian and Ken finally reached the gym in Liechi. The morning sun was still in the air, the townsfolk all going about their usual business. Each street corner had another merchant trying to sell goods to the teens passing by, and each time they just ignored them politely, continuing the trek to the gym. The skyscrapers stood like metallic giants; dwarfing the youngsters as they waded through the sea of people around them to just reach the front doors of the gym.

It was everything both teens dreamed off. A large, ivory building with the gym emblem in its center, and a glass automatic door led to the entrance of this magnificent palace. In front of it, were two statues, small but still majestic, in the shapes of a Pigeot. Sebastian and Ken couldn't help but gasp at the sight in front of them.

"Dude, we finally made it!" Ken said excitingly. Sebastian just nodded, a huge grin on his face as he began to walk up the steps to the glass door in front of them.

"HEY WAIT UP!" Sophie yelled in back of him. Sebastian and Ken jerked their heads towards her and Damon, who were running to catch the two enthusiastic trainers.

"WHAT GIVES…..YOU COCKY BASTARDS!" panted Sophie, trying to catch her breath.

"Www…what are you talking about?" Sebastian asked her.

"YOU TWO IDIOTS RUN TOWARDS THIS LIKE IT'S A NAKED WOMAN WHEN YOU FIRST SEE IT, LEAVING US TO CATCH UP!" Sophie snarled.

"I'm…I'm sorry about that…"

"NO SORRIES! NEXT TIME WAIT UP DAMNIT! WERE IN THIS TOGETHER! SO LETS GO!" Sophie said back, pushing Sebastian out of the way and going through the automatic door before anyone had a chance to say anything.

Damon just had a sly grin on his face, and nodded for a second. Ken just laughed a bit, as Sebastian looked through the glass door and saw Sophie storming into the front part of the gym.

'Damn…' he thought to himself. 'I didn't think that would insult anyone…'

"Wake up dude! It's time to go in and kick some ass!" Ken said, snapping Sebastian back into reality, as the three teens walked through the automatic glass doors.

Sebastian's jaw dropped to the floor the moment he entered the gym. He thought that he would see a small, open field with a simple logo on it but instead he was treated to a rocky plain, with small mountains and even a tiny lagoon of water off to one side. The trainers inside were crowding the place, as if they were waiting for something marvelous to happen. On the sides of the gym were two big double doors, possibly locker rooms or areas for the trainers.

'The field was as big as the ones on television!' Sebastian thought to himself. He was not far off, as the miniature plain was about the size of a regular football field.

Then, out of nowhere, he heard a voice booming from an intercom.

"Mornin' everyone, and welcome to Liechi Gym." The voice said back. "I'll be down 'ere in a minute to see who the competition is today, but just know only a couple of ya will be facin' me today."

"Only a 'couple of you?' that is bullshit." Sophie remarked.

"It's normal amongst most of the gyms…." Damon began.

"Ooh no it isn't, far from it actually." Sophie snapped back.

"If you want to do it right, you got to fight everyone that comes in. Rule number 1 in my dad's gym."

"Maybe for you, but do you think you can fight thirty people in a row, with different pokemon each?" Damon asked, pointed to the throng of trainers waiting anxiously near the field. Sophie just went red in the face with anger.

"Why does it matter? A gym leader needs to be ready for every challenge that is thrown to them!" Sophie replied.

"That may be, but think about it. Is it physically possible for a trainer to fight separate battles in one day? Perhaps when you go to a gym, like your own, that only has around ten people a day, then yes. But thirty is too much for anyone."

Sophie, still red in the face, gritted her teeth and nodded back at Damon.

'Fucking smart aleck, he always knows everything.' she thought to herself

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Ken were amongst the crowd of trainers waiting to their chance to shine.

"You think he will pick people at random?" One kid, a youngster in a pair of khaki shorts, asked his friend next to him.

"Probably, but I bet he will do something like have us fight each other." He replied back.

"I bet we will have to fight based on our pokemon type?" a girl piped up.

"No way! I'm sure we will have to do something stupid to prove ourselves to him." Ken said suddenly, replying to the girl.

Then, the lights in the gym dimmed, and everyone just gasped. The chatter that filled the room before went silent, and all of a sudden, one of the double doors busted open. Out came a man in his early twenties, wearing a pair of jeans, leather boots, and a plaid shirt. His brown hair was long and unkempt, and his scruffy looking stubble covered his jaw.

"Howdy, everyone." The man spoke, his southern accent nice and heavy.

"My name's Tobias, and I wanna welcome ya to my gym. I'm sorry that I won't be able to fight ya'll today, but I don't want ya to be discouraged next time you try to come in, cause ya'll will get a chance eventually." Tobias just smiled; his eyes were scanning the crowd to see who was in his gym today.

"I want everyone who is participatin' to please write your name down and put it in the box that's set up right over here." He said, pointing to a small table with a voting box and pieces of paper nearby. Sitting at the table was another man, this one wearing a black shirt.

"My assistant here, is gonna take care of everything during this part. Were gonna pick some names randomly, and of the random names well move onto phase two. Good luck ya'll." With that, Tobias finished speaking and sat down next to the man in black, and the trainers in the room began to run up to the table, making sure their name is entered into the ballot box.

Ken was amongst them; he was pushing trainers out of his way so that he can be one of the first ones to fight Tobias. Sebastian hanged back a bit, mainly because he was perplexed that Damon and Sophie made no attempt to go near the ballot box.

"What's wrong guys?" Sebastian called to them. Damon had his backpack over his shoulders, and was looking the other way towards the door of the gym.

"Where you going Damon?" Sebastian asked him.

"I got some business to attend to, you guys have fun, make sure that you think on your feet, use strategy not power." Damon replied, just before he pushed the glass doors open and exited the gym. Sebastian looked at him wide eyed. 'What is he up to?' he thought to himself.

"I really have no interest in this battle, especially if I am not guaranteed to be in it." Sophie replied to Sebastian. "You two give it a shot, good luck though!" she smiled, and patted Sebastian's head. Sebastian just blushed and smiled back.

"Tth…thanks…" he said, trying to make sounds but nothing coming out.

"Aww.." Sophie said with a happy moan, " You're so cute when you blush."

Sebastian just got redder, and turned around in embarrassment. He then walked rather slowly over to the end of the shoddy line the trainers created.

Damon was pissed that his cell phone had no service. He really needed to make a call now.

'Damn satellites.' He thought to himself, 'they never work when you need them to.' Damon kept pacing in the street, as other pedestrians passed by, going about their business in the city.

'I got to get a signal or else there might be trouble…' He kept thinking to himself. Finally, after dialing his phone for the umpteenth time, he heard the ringing on the other end.

"Hello?" a deep, raspy voice said on the other end.

"Sir, it's me, Damon." Damon replied. The voice on the other end coughed a bit, and cleared its throat.

"Ah, Mr. Nauls, I am glad to hear from you. I expect that you made it to Liechi ok?" the voice asked

"Yes sir, I have." Damon replied calmly.

"Good, then the packages are safe and sound I am assuming."

"Yes sir, and one of them was tested already as well."

"Interesting, what were the results?" the voice on the other end wheezed.

"Well sir, it appears that they have an accelerated power growth, which is what we were hoping for. Their elemental abilities are magnified, and cause more damage than even I could imagine. However, more tests need to be conducted to determine physical and mental capabilities."

"Very good Mr. Nauls. I am pleased in your work, as always." The voice on the phone said back, coughing loudly and clearing his throat once again."What about the two trainers you said you are traveling with."

"Well sir, we gained another follower in the group, so I will be traveling with three for a while."

"What?!" the voice on the other end boomed. "How could you Mr. Nauls?"

"Sir, I think I can handle this group…"

"NO EXCUSES! I DON'T WANT YOU, OR THE PACKAGES TO BE DAMAGED OR WORSE ON YOUR 'DETOUR' MR. NAULS! YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO RETRIEVE THESE PACKAGES, AND YOU WILL DELIVER THEM, IS THAT CLEAR!!" Damon was silent for a minute, as the voice on the other end calmed down from it's yelling, coughing for a few minutes. After a few moments of silence, Damon spoke up again, his voice still calm.

"But sir, you don't understand the situation. It has become, complicated in a sense."

The voice on the other end sighed, and spoke again. "How so Mr. Nauls?"

"Well, the ones I am traveling with are an interesting group, so much in fact, there is something special with one of them, something I noticed when we battled…"

Sebastian and Ken were waiting amongst the throng of trainers inside the building. Everyone was on pins and needles, as Tobias got ready to pull some names out of the ballot box.

"What I'm gonna do is pull eight names out of this here box. Those names are gonna then participate in a second challenge, where four people are gonna then face me one by one. Ya'll ready for this?"

"WOOOO!" the crowd of trainers cried, almost in unison.

"Alright then, let's begin…"Tobias said as he stuck his hand into the box, and pulled the first name out of the hat.

"First person in…is Kimberly Jenson!" A young girl then screamed, and went upwards to where Tobias was standing. He was busy pulling another name out of the box.

"Next…..Ken Wesker!"

"HOLY SHIT DUDE!" Ken screamed out loud. He then hugged Sebastian, who was nodding his approval, and then took a spot next to the girl who was before him.

"Ready for the next name…." Tobias said, as he put his hand back into the box again.

"So you see sir, that is why I think we should travel together." Damon said, finishing his reasons to continue his own path. The man on the other end fell silent for a few moments, before he cleared his voice of the phlegm stuck in his throat.

"Very well, Mr. Nauls. You can go and do this. I hope that your plan works, and nothing is harmed in your endeavors. The only thing I am worried about is your own safety, so make sure that you are not captured, or worse."

"Of course sir, I am very covert in my methods, and I can easily blend in." Damon boasted.

"We shall see. Just remember, I want updates on the packages, your progress, and how he turns out. Of all things, make sure you and the packages are kept safe, and don't let them suspect a thing either." The raspy voice said back. Damon just smiled, and chucked to himself for a bit before replying.

"That won't be a problem at all sir, they suspect nothing."

Sebastian was a bit worried and upset at this point. Six names called, and he was still hoping his would be amongst them. Only two names left, and some thirty plus trainers were still in the mix. Tobias lifted another paper out of the box, and in his enthusiastic tone, he announce the next winner.

"The seventh person is…..Eric Basco!" A voice then shouted "YEAH!" before the young man who won went on stage to join the other winners.

"Time for the last one…" Tobias began as he picked the final name out of the box. He picked up a name, and cleared his throat, waiting a moment so that the suspense could be strong for everyone left.

"The lucky trainer is…Sebastian Caine!" Sebastian's eyes widened. 'Did he…did he just call my name?' he kept thinking to himself. 'I don't…believe it.' Sebastian was shaken out of his shocked state when Sophie grabbed him from behind and gave him a big hug. Sebastian was caught off guard, and began to turn a deep shade of red as Sophie embraced him from behind.

"Good job dude, now go up there and kick ass!" she said, with her arms around his waist. Sebastian just blushed again, and slowly walked up to where the other eight trainers were.

"Congratulation's to the winners here." Tobias said with great enthusiasm. Everyone in the room gave a round of applause, some less so than others because they lost their chance at participating for a gym badge. Some trainers even left, not caring at all on how the trainers will fare. Tobias waited until the applause finished, and began speaking again.

"Well ya'll, I wanna congratulate ya for making it this far, cause the next rounds gonna be a test of your pokemon's strength." He said, his southern accent hitting every note.

"What were gonna do, since this gym is designed to measure a pokemon's strength, were gonna put it to the test now. Here is your task…"

He then bent down, and picked up a long rope that was coiled near his feet. Apparently no one noticed the rope from before, but the trainers who were still there gave puzzled looks as Tobias picked it up. He then turned to the eight trainers in front of him, and told them their instructions.

"This rope," he began, "is gonna be used as a tug-o-war rope with the final 8 trainers here. Basically, ya'll gonna face one another at random, so you should pick your strongest pokemon to participate. Top four get to face me startin at noon today." Tobias then turned to the crowd, which was busy whispering about the challenge between the trainers.

"Ya'll wanna see that?" Tobias practically yelled out enthusiastically. The entire room erupted in cheering, and the eight trainers, all of them with great confidence, just nodded in approval of the challenge they were given.


	10. Chapter 10 Refusal and Resurgence

Chapter 10- Refusal and Resurgence.

"Number 4…it has to be last number huh?" Sebastian complained to Ken after comparing their numbers together.

"Going last is not too bad, I got to go first man!" Ken replied. The boys, and the rest of the contestant winners, had to pick numbers to see who would be their opponent, and who would go first in the tug-o-war match. Sebastian was sitting on the edge of the stadium, looking down on his pokeballs.

"Who are you going to use then?" Sebastian asked him. Ken looked over his shoulder, making sure that none of the others were around to listen. He then leaned in towards Sebastian, bending down on his knees so he can whisper in his ear.

"I am thinking about using Pinsir." He whispered as silently as he could. "It is the strongest one I got anyway, we should be ok in a tug of war match."

"As long as you don't go up against a fighting type." Replied Sebastian. He kept his eyes gazed on his pokeballs, all of which were in a row on the floor.

"What about you dude? What are you using?" asked Ken. Sebastian bit his lip, his eyes never removing their gaze from his pokeballs.

"I don't know yet…."he said back, picking up Cubones pokeball, then putting it back on the floor. "It is either Cubone or Elekid, I haven't decided which one I want to use yet."

"You don't have anything stronger?" Ken asked him.

"No not really…"

Ken nodded, and patted his friend on the shoulder before he sat up straight and did a little stretch.

"Good luck picking dude. I am kinda glad my choice is easier." He said, cradling the pokeball holding his newly captured Pinsir.

"I guess I got to go in a bit with this." Ken said to his friend, before walking off to one side of the field, where the trainer stands during the matches. Sebastian kept his gaze on his pokeballs, still pondering what to do with them.

'Cubone would probably be stronger, but I might need it for the match against Tobias…plus Elekid I haven't used yet, maybe he has enough strength…'

"X'cuse me son." A voice said behind him, grabbing Sebastian's shoulder. Sebastian jumped, slightly startled by the sudden grab, and looked up and saw Tobias staring right back at him.

"Oh…um yeah Tobias?"

"Were gonna start in a second, so would you please get off the stadium here for a bit dude?"

"Oh..yeah sure." Sebastian grabbed his pokeballs and put them around his belt before jumping off the stage. Tobias stayed in the center, his microphone in his hand. The crowd began to go silent, almost everyone watching anticipated the next announcement he would make. In a clear, crisp voice Tobias spoke.

"Well ya'll, I hope yer ready for this contest!" Tobias practically screamed enthusiastically.

"Were gonna get started with the first match up here, and were gonna follow it quickly with the other three. Ya'll ready for this?" The crowd roared with great enthusiasm, as Tobias smiled and cleared his throat for the next part of the announcement.

"Here are the match-up's as follows. Ken Wesker vs. Scott Vanino. Then Eric Basco vs Kimberly Jensen, We have Rachel Sanders vs. Terry Thompson and after that, Sebastian Caine vs. Mark Jacobs. The winners of these match-ups will then face me in a pokemon battle, and fer the chance to win this..." He then held up a small, silver colored badge in the air so everyone can get a close look at it. The badge was in the shape of a muscular forearm flexing.

"This here is the bicep badge. The ones who beat me today are gonna win this, go good luck trainers, yer gonna need it if you make it past this part here! Ok were gonna get started here, so Ken and Scott, yer up boys. Here are the rules." Began Tobias as he pointed to the center of the arena, where two painted crimson lines were slathered across the rocky surface.

" The lines in the center ere' you can't cross over. So when the cloth on the rope ere' goes pass the line on yer side, you lose an' yer opponent advances. Ok guys, ya ready?"

Both trainers nodded their approval, and grabbed their pokeballs waiting for the approval by Tobias.

The crowd kept cheering, as the two young trainers stood in their respected boxes, the rope strung out in the center. There was a small, white cloth tied to the middle of the rope, indicating the center point. The field was cleared of most debris, with large granite hills on one side, and the running stream going through the other side, forming a miniature chasm. The crimson lines drawn in the dirt of the earth were as clear as day, and everyone watching could easily see who could win, or lose, this contest.

Ken moved first, throwing his pokeball into the dirt. The massive frame of his Pinsir became visible; the large bug pokemon geared up and let out a loud ROAR! showing great confidence in the tone of it's voice.

Ken's opponent, the young man named Scott, copied his motions, and with an equally loud ROAR! A Ryhorn popped out, brandishing its long horn towards the brown bug across from him.

"Ok Pinsir, show me what you got! Grab that rope and don't let go." Said Ken enthusiastically. The Pinsir turned back to it's trainer, its eyes glaring right at Ken, filled with anger. He then turned back, looked down at the rope, and in a low growl, turned away and sat down on the dusty earth.

Ken was bewildered at this. He nervously glanced across the room, looking at the crowd as the clapping slowly died into a dead silence, with some snickering breaking the awkward tension that was created. Across from Ken, the Ryhorn that Scott summoned was already holding the rope with its large incisors, and is wrapping its horn around the rope for extra weight.

Ken bent down to his Pinsir, who looked as if it were meditating, it's tiny arms and legs crossed Indian style, it's beady eyes closed tightly.

"Come on Pinsir, do this for me please." Ken pleaded, the Pinsir opened it's eyes and looked up for a brief moment, but then just turned away, not even bothering to acknowledge his trainer.

"Well…um…ya gotta either get control of him Ken, or yer disqualified." Said Tobias. Scott, on the other hand, was ready to win now.

"DQ this moron already, he lost by making a bad choice." Scott ranted. "Fucking rookie…"

"HEY FUCK YOU PAL!" screamed Ken.

"Id like to see you try, since you can't control that shitty pokemon, what chance do you have?" laughed Scott. The Ryhorn, holding the rope, began to growl loudly, directing his attention to the sitting bug pokemon.

Pinsir, meanwhile, opened its eyes from the apparent meditation, listening to the lewd comments and low-pitched growls from across the room. The Pinsir then looked at the rope in Ryhorn's mouth, and seeing the other end to the side of his body, he suddenly let out a high pitched screech, not before grabbing the rope with it's small hands and jumping into an attack position.

The Ryhorn was caught off guard, and was nearly knocked onto its feet by the sudden tug from the large bug-type. Scott stopped laughing, after seeing his pokemon nearly toppling into the rocky ground and letting go of the rope.

"Ok Ryhorn, show that bug whose the real boss around here!" barked Ken. The ground type was struggling, however, trying to regain its footing from Pinsir's pulling. The bug type was relentless, continuing to use every muscle in it's body to overpower the pokemon in front of him.

"Keep pulling Pinsir.." Ken began to say…but the Pinsir roared back at him, showing no interest in what Ken wanted to accomplish. The Pinsir was only interested in defeating the Ryhorn, by any means necessary. The Ryhorn, however, was not going quietly, and was able to regain most of it's footing, and began pulling back at the Pinsir. Pinsir was losing it's own ground, being dragged forward by the weight of the heavy ground type.

By this time, the crowd was starting to cheer again, reviving the adrenaline in the room that was present in the beginning of the contest. The two pokemon were pulling with all their might, trying to out muscle the competition in front of them.

The Ryhorn was gaining ground, using its weight to pull the large bug type towards the center. The white cloth tied to the rope was now about even again, but slowly going towards Ryhorn's side. The Pinsir was now struggling, its early momentum disrupted by the strength of the Ryhorn. It began to emit screeching roars, trying to gain that momentum back from the unflinching Ryhorn. It tilted its massive body lower, bending its knees and clamping down on the rope with its large incisors. The tips of it's horns can barely grip the thick rope, but it was just enough to give him the extra muscle it needs, stopping the Ryhorn dead in its tracks and slowly pulling it towards his line.

The Ryhorn tried to regain control, but the extra might of the Pinsir was too overwhelming, and in an instant, the ground type was sliding across the red line, the white cloth now in the box where Ken and his Pinsir stand.

The Ryhorn screams in agony and continues to pull, but Scott sullen face looks down and returns his pokemon back into it's capsulated home.

Ken, overjoyed by his victory, gets behind Pinsir and attempts to hug him, but the bug just shakes him off, hurling Ken into the ground hard, his head banging the rocky ground with a loud smash.

Ken rubs the bump on his head while he grabs his pokeball and recalls the Pinsir. While he gets up from the ground, he hears Scott arguing with Tobias over the match.

"He should have been disqualified damn it! What the hell kind of gym is this!" complained Scott. Tobias just shook his head, and spoke calmly back to the hotheaded trainer.

"He won, fair n' square, after a rocky start. Not much I can do bout' it Scott. Better luck next time."

'THIS IS BULLSHIT!" screamed Scott, nearly as loud as the clapping crowd over the display of strength that transpired. But Tobias was unyielding, giving the win to Ken in the end. Scott was so enraged by the decision; he stormed out of the gym, not before yelling a final "FUCK YOU" to Tobias.

Ken, who was still rubbing the back of his head from the nasty fall that Pinsir gave him, was greeted by Sebastian and Sophie, who were mesmerized by the events that transpired.

"That was…interesting." Remarked Sophie, who only got a murderous glare by Ken.

"Why the hell was he not listening to me at first?"

"At first? It NEVER listened to you at all, Ken." Replied Sophie.

"Dude…you need to watch that Pinsir…"Sebastian began.

"Oh come on guys, we just had a bad start, that's all." Ken said sheepishly, his face reddening with embarrassment.

"No, it didn't listen to you at all, Ken. In fact, the only reason it did anything was because of that other trainer and his Ryhorn taunting it." Sophie stated.

"Bullshit, and you know it!" Ken retorted angrily.

"NO BULLSHIT." Snapped Sophie. "We both saw it, and you know it, Ken. Stop being so stubborn."

Sebastian only nodded in agreement. "Sorry dude…she's right…"

Ken just sighed, and hung his head down.

"Why won't it listen?" he asked, nearly sniffling. "What did I do to it?"

Sophie just rolled her eyes and picked Ken's head up from off his shoulders. "You got to train it, dummy, you think everyone pokemon you capture will listen to you?"

"I figured yeah, considering that's what they are SUPPOSED TO DO!" snapped Ken.

"Well, the quicker you learn that's not the case, the better for your pokemon." Said Sophie harshly, before letting go of Ken and walking away.

"Sophie wait…" pleaded Sebastian, but she just lifted her palm up as she walked outside.

"Forget her, she's probably right anyway, just like Damon, stubborn know-it-alls.." Ken said harshly.

"Dude shut the fuck up, there only trying to help." Sebastian snapped.

Kens eyes widened, as he was unaccustomed from hearing Sebastian yelling at him.

"Why don't you stop arguing with them all the time? It is not helping, and for once, you may LEARN something! Stop being so stubborn dude; it's not worth it. All they are doing is giving advice, you're not an expert on this stuff, and neither am I. That is why we need the advice!" ranted Sebastian, clearly upset with how Ken was behaving.

"Seb I'm sorry dude. I didn't mean to.."

"No its ok, Ken. Just, take some advice sometimes."

Ken just nodded, and quickly walked passed Sebastian.

"Where are you going?" Sebastian asked him.

"To apologize."

Damon was relaxing at a small café, enjoying the bright sunshine that the city offered over the massive metallic skyscrapers that towered over him. Sipping some tea and waiting for a real meal, Damon was contemplating what he should do next with his new objective.

'I wonder if I can give them more packages…but then again I only have one left to give…perhaps its best if I hold onto it…or…maybe the girl.." he kept pondering, sipping the hot liquid as he gathered his thoughts on his next move.

"Would you like some company?" a high pitched voice said behind him, as a hand slammed onto the table, shaking the tea glass with a sudden vibration.

"Excuse me, buddy…" Damon began, looking behind him to see stoic young face with bleach blonde hair and piercing eyes staring back at him. His face was tightened into a vile grin, a stark contrast from the white clothing and green eyes that were noticeable.

Damon was in shock by the stranger's sudden interruption, but more by the fact that this was no stranger, at least to him.

"Gabriel." He uttered, before the young man grabbed his neck.

Sebastian was nervous this time. After Kens match, the other two bouts of tug o' war went smoothly, with the two female trainers triumphing. Now it was Sebastian's turn, facing a man in his mid thirties, a black goatee giving him more presence then his large knapsack strung over his broad shoulder. Mark had already thrown his pokemon down, a healthy looking Combusken, which was busy practicing its kicks in mid air, showing great enthusiasm for the upcoming contest.

The crowd was cheering again, waiting for Sebastian to throw his pokemon down. Ken and Sophie were among them, with their made amends and rallying behind their friend on the stage.

Sebastian took a deep breath, and grabbed the pokeball he planned on using.

'Here goes nothing.' He said to himself tossing his pokeball onto the ground. The ball opened wide, and the similar red light took shape into a small, yellow-furred pokemon.

The Elekid made a high-pitched coo, before looking tensely at the chicken across from him.

"Ok Elekid, grab the rope and don't let go of it!" Sebastian said to his pokemon calmly. The baby picked up the thick rope, which was nearly as big as it's entire body, and held on tight. The Combusken in front of it did the same, grabbing the rope with its feathered arms and staring down the Elekid.

Tobias began his countdown, and when he gave the signal, the two pokemon began to pull the rope with all of their force. The Elekid was being outmatched easily; the force that the Combusken pulled with was definitely stronger.

Sebastian was beginning to panic. His baby pokemon was being outmatched, and he was regretting his decision on using it for this contest. Despite this, he hid it from his pokemon, and tried to encourage it as much as possible.

"Don't give up Elekid, keep pulling with all you can!" Sebastian ordered.

The pokemon was trying, in vain, to outmuscle the Combusken, but it was no use. The white cloth was dangerously close to the red line at this point, the Combusken ready for the final pull to finish it off. Elekid pulled again, gaining minor ground, its eyes glowing a bright yellow as bolts of electricity began emitting from the top of it's plug-like head.

The crowd was cheering louder, fueling the fury that Elekid was showing suddenly. For the first time it was beginning to gain some ground. The Combusken gave it another hard pull, but this time the pokemon did not gain much, and was pulled back just as quickly.

The muscles under the furry skin of Elekid were straining, but gathering strength as it pulled harder against the Combusken. The bolts of lightning that the pokemon were emitting were growing more turbulent, and now shooting upwards, hitting the metallic ceiling. The crowds clapping became cries of excitement, despite some people heading for the exit due to fears of being electrocuted. Elekid's unprecedented display of power was growing, its tiny frame tightening up as its muscles began to bulge with energy. The baby pokemon began to pull harder, slowly gaining the upper hand in this contest of strength.

Sebastian was shielding his eyes from the bright lights emitting from the Elekid's head. Likewise, his opponent was also ducking for cover, blinded by the flashes of lightning that were emitting from the top of Elekid's head. Tobias was also mesmerized by the spectacle before them, never remembering a baby pokemon displaying so much energy before.

The Elekid began moving backwards, the rope moving faster into its direction with each tug, and was now easily overpowering the chicken pokemon. Bright orange and red feathers were beginning to molt on the Combusken's arms as it tried to regain control of the contest. But the spunky fire fighter was too tired to continue, and despite never letting go of the rope, it's strength faded almost entirely, and the white cloth finally passed the red line, on Sebastian's side.

Sebastian was elated by the victory.

"Let go of the rope, you did it Elekid!" shouted Sebastian. His mind barely processing what just happened. 'I never knew babies could be that powerful.'

The electric type was pulling the rope still, the static energy that was noticeably coursing through its young body still tense, but the pokemon's plug like antennae twitched, and its body finally released the tension, and slowly the lightning emitting from the pokemon's head began to cease.

The crowd was cheering again; Mark recalled his Combusken and went to shake Sebastian's hand for a well-fought bout of strength. Tobias was already working the crowd, congratulating the winners and telling them to sit tight and watch the real pokemon matches next.

"I don't believe what I saw." Sophie said to Ken under the loud clapping and cheering that surrounded the air.

"Who cares, he won and looked awesome!" Ken said back excitingly.

"Still though…where did he get that baby pokemon anyway?" asked Sophie.

"It was a gift from Damon, he gave me one too."

Sophie began thinking for a moment. "Where did Damon go….he's missing all of this."

Damon was struggling to breathe, as Gabriel clamped down on his neck with his two large hands, trying to crush his esophagus with brute force. Gabriel was grunting heavily, holding the teen down on the table. Onlookers were watching at this spectacle, too afraid to become involved, while others were calling for them to stop and let go. No one, however, was intervening.

"Not running this time, Damon. This time your dead for good," Remarked Gabriel.

Damon's face was starting to turn blue, but he couldn't overpower the blonde man over him. He looked around for something, and with one of his arms he reached for the teacup on the table. He could barely grasp the handle, while Gabriel just laughed slightly manically.

"This is what you get for stealing from us. Just call me the massager from Mr. Rhett himself, and I think you get the message loud and clear." Said Gabriel.

Damon was losing conscience, but was still focusing on his teacup. His fingers were grasping the handle, until he finally got a grip that was strong enough to lift the ceramic holder. He threw it at Gabriel's face, where it smashed into his cheek, the hot water stinging his skin and causing him to jump back and yelping in pain.

With his grip loosened, Damon swiftly brought his leg up, and hit Gabriel square in the testicles. The blonde was now in double pain, while Damon was trying to catch his breath. He was coughing heavily, and rubbing his red neck as Gabriel went on his knees and winced.

"See you…later…." Damon said, as he began to walk away slowly, still trying to catch his breath.

"Not…so fast….Damon…" cried Gabriel. He was still on his knees, but he was prepared for this situation.

A loud click was heard, and Damon turned around, staring down the barrel of a gun that was blocking the heaving Gabriel's face.


	11. Chapter 11Old Friends

Chapter 11- Old Friends

Damon couldn't move this time. With Gabriel's gunpoint toward his chest, he was slightly paralyzed with fear. Fortunately for him, this was nothing; compared to the escapades he was a part of in the past. His neck was red and swollen, and it felt like it was on fire in Damon's mind. He fought the urge to rub it, just in case if Gabriel felt too trigger-happy and shoot him on the spot.

Gabriel was still panting hard, as he lifted himself from the ground. His face was red with rage and with pain, his pale skin slightly scaled by the hot tea he was struck with before. His eyes showed great anger in them, and they never left Damon's gaze.

"Nice…try…buddy." Gabriel panted, as he walked closer towards the unmoving teen.

"Why didn't you just kill me with that before?" Asked Damon, his anger rising though his fear, his hands gripping the sides of his pants near his pokeballs.

"Lift up…. the hands or I shoot." Gabriel ordered. Damon, not wanting to frustrate the blonde man in front of him, raised his arms and opened his fists, showing nothing nestled in between his palms.

"I'm still waiting for the answer, Gabriel." Damon said defiantly.

"Id be quiet if I were you," retorted the gunmen. "And if you must know, it was for my own satisfaction after what you did to me…and to us." He spat.

"You don't have the balls to shoot me here." Said Damon

In a flash, Gabriel squeezed the trigger of his gun, shooting into the concrete street at Damon's feet. Damon jumped back, totally caught off guard by Gabriel's bravado. Around them, people began to scream and run for cover. Some were just as shocked by the display and took cover under the nearby tables outside the café. Others were furiously dialing 911 on their cell phones, trying to get the police involved before someone gets hurt.

"YOUR CRAZY, YOU KNOW THAT!" Yelled Damon.

"YOU SHOULD TALK!" Yelled back Gabriel. "YOU befriended us, YOU betrayed us. YOU nearly ruined years of hard work that we have tried to create. YOU are the one who deserves what is coming to them, regardless of the penalty I receive."

"You won't get away with this…you know that."

Gabriel just laughed manically, before cocking his gun again.

"I will be released if I am caught anyway, Mr. Rhett will take care of that. Besides, you didn't take everything we were making..."

Damon was wide eyed at this point; his heart was pounding faster in his chest as his nerves began to waver. In the distance, sirens could be heard as the police force drew closer to their location. Damon, however, was not concerned with the wailing sounds that beckoned his freedom. He was more worried about the revelation that Gabriel pronounced.

"You mean…"

"Oh yeah, there are some pokemon that even you didn't know about." Gabriel stated. "You don't think Mr. Rhett would share all his secrets would you?"

"You son of a bitch, you won't get away with this still, because even if I die, you won't find the packages in the end." Damon said sternly. He was now trying to stall him as long as possible, at least until he could find a way to escape the range of the pistol Gabriel had on him.

"Oh really, Damon." Gabriel said calmly. "You thinking dumping them onto some witless kids will save them. I will get them back one way or another, and I feel bad for those kids you befriended, because they trusted a spineless scoundrel like you."

"You wouldn't …"

"Sorry Damon, but it's orders. Something you know nothing about since you never followed them."

With the screeching wails of the police sirens were inching closer towards their location, Gabriel's smile faded and became stone faced once again.

"Any last words, Damon." Gabriel asked.

Damon couldn't wait any longer. The police were close, but not close enough to stop him from being shot.

"I do…" he began, before dropping his left arm towards the ground.

"HANDS UP!" Gabriel shouted, but Damon defied him, and instead pushed his entire arm outwards towards the gunmen. Gabriel was shocked to see a pokeball shoot out of the sleeve of Damon's leather jacket, right onto the ground near his feet.

"SHADOW, STOP THE GUN!" Damon shouted. In a flash of red, a large, plump purple pokemon with glowing red eyes emerged from the light. The grinning face was just as sinister as the one that was planted on Gabriel moments ago. The Gengar quickly jumped into the air as Gabriel pulled the trigger, firing right at Damon's chest.

"Ok everyone." Tobias said on the microphone. "Were gonna begin the final phase of today's activities."

Well past noon, the crowd in the Liechi gym dissipated somewhat leaving only a few dozen spectators to enjoy the four battles that loomed in the future.

"Ere's how it's gonna work. This will be a one on one battle with no substitutin' involved. If you win, yer gonna get the bicep badge as a reward. If ya lose, well, good job makin it this far and I'll hope to see ya real soon!" Tobias said.

He then turned to the four finalists, the two girls who won their matches along with Ken and Sebastian.

"The first one whose gonna battle will be Kimberly Jensen. When yer ready, well begin ok Kim."

The young girl nodded, gripping a pokeball and took position on the left side of the rocky arena floor, while the other three trainers moved off to the side.

"This is going to be sweet!" Ken said with great enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I can't wait." Said Sebastian back.

"Your not nervous at all?" Ken asked.

"Well…no not really I guess…I mean like should I be?"

"You should be prepared for battle by now." Someone said behind them. The boys turned to see Sophie's smiling face.

"Well, I have only had one real battle before…and it ended poorly."

"Oh come on, get some more confidence dude or you'll never succeed in this business."

"Damon said the same thing to me." Sebastian said.

"And he's right. Don't be nervous all the time." Sophie lectured.

"When I'm up there, I won't be so nervous I bet. Just a bit shaky that I'm going up against a gym leader."

"I know how you feel, dude." Said Ken. "I'm not to worried though, I mean I'm sure well kick ass against Tobias. Plus we get to see how he battles."

"Yeah, besides you did awesome during the tug of war match." Ken said, patting his friend on the back.

"Well…I was surprised that I even won that…"

"But you did, and that's what's important right now, you got through the first hurdle, now you can finish it off if you keep positive." Said Sophie.

Sebastian just nodded and took a deep sigh before turning and looking towards the arena floor. Tobias and Kimberly were in positions, and the battle was moments from beginning.

"Hey Sophie, where is Damon?" Sebastian asked. Sophie looked puzzled with the question, and just shrugged her shoulders.

"No clue, you would think he would be back by now."

Damon was too afraid to look, and just kept his eyes closed when Gabriel pulled the trigger on him. He was waiting for something, the pain to hit him, the sensations of death to creep up on him, unsure of how it would feel to actually expire. He kept his eyes tightly shut; his body was tense and rigid and shaking heavily out of fear and anticipation. But it never came, the feeling of being hit with something, the feeling of death creeping up on him.

Damon opened his eyes slowly, still afraid to look. As his vision returned to the light, what he saw in front of him nearly made him jump in fear. A mere inch from his face was a small, metallic bullet, copper capped and spinning slowly in midair. On the side of him was his Gengar, it's own crimson eyes closed and it's stubby hand raised in front of it, struggling to control the bullet that was suspended in the air.

Gabriel was furious, his stoic face turning into an evil sneer. He didn't even bother to fire another shot, since the Gengar would just use his psychic powers to hold the metallic bullets in mid-air. Instead, he grabbed his own pokeball on his belt and tossed in onto the ground. In a flash, a large, minted green creature became visible. It's brilliantly colored feathers looked blinding in the sunny sky, deep red and black feathers patterned around parts of it's body. It stood tall, spreading it's eagle-like wings in a synchronized movement.

"Xatu attack that Gengar!" Snarled Gabriel. The bird made a low level shrill, and closed the tiny black eyes to concentrate, calming it's mind before attacking. Damon finally moved away from the suspended bullet, breathing heavily and sweating profusely from the whole ordeal.

"Shadow, make some Haze." Said Damon. The ghost laughed, before opening it's gaping mouth and letting a bright purple mist seep outward. It spread around the trainers, thickening like a deep fog around the Xatu and Gabriel.

Gabriel was covering his mouth as the thick mist engulfed his senses. He couldn't see anything, only the sounds of the closing sirens could be heard, as they became dangerously close to his location.

"Xatu, Defog this mess!" cried Gabriel. The bird pokemon, eyes still closed and barely moving, lifted it's wings in one swift motion, and in a brilliant display masked by the mist, the bird flapped it's wings, throwing the haze in numerous directions until it disappeared into the sunny atmosphere. Xatu finished, and jerked it's head around, looking at nothing in the empty streets.

"Shit!" screamed Gabriel. "Xatu, get in the air and find them, if you see them, knock out the Gengar. I'll be following close behind!"

The bird chirped, and lifted it's large wings and began flapping slowly, levitating into the air, then flying high above the steel skyscrapers in search of the fleeing teen. Gabriel was not far behind, running at full speed from the café, and into the streets as the sirens drew closer.


	12. Chapter 12 Double Jeopardy

Chapter 12- Double Jeopardy

"Our next match is Ken Wesker. Come on up 'ere Ken!" boomed Tobias as the small crowd began to clap in earnest. Sebastian gave Ken a pat on the back, knowing that he would do well in his first match up against a gym leader. The two female trainers both dominated their matches, and hopefully Ken will continue the winning trend against Tobias.

Ken, although he would never admit it, had butterflies in his stomach as he approached the stage. His hands trembled slightly as he moved into the position to face his first gym leader, his first hurdle in become the champion he desires.

"Let's do it, son." Tobias said happily. He picked a pokeball and tossed it on the ground, revealing a three-legged creature which was balancing itself on the point of it's head. It's elongated appendages acting like swift whips when the Hitmontop spun around.

Ken was not showing any emotion when he tossed his pokeball onto the rocky floor. Ball opened, and the tiny Wooper, stopped out, it's familiar cry echoing in the arena. The Hitmontop stopped spinning for a moment, eyeing it's opponent warily.

"LETS BEGIN!" Tobias shouted, and the crowd cheered.

"Wooper, water gun!" shouted Ken. The tiny tadpole obliged, opening it's mouth and spewing a near perfect stream of water towards the Hitmontop.

"Rapid spin, then go in for a hit!" said Tobias. The fighting type began to spin on it's head, gaining speed with every rotation, until there was nothing but a large, spinning blur, like a miniature tornado whipping the winds and hurling small pebbles on the dirt floor of the arena. Wooper's water gun hit the spinning top head on, but the weak stream was blocked and sprayed into little droplets, showering the dirt on the floor. The Hitmontop then moved closer, spinning like the Tasmanian Devil in the old cartoons, making a small defined path in it's movements and slamming right into the Wooper. The water type flew literally into the air, and slammed into a nearby rock with so much force it made a web of cracks in the surface of the rock.

"Wooper, get back up and try to stop it from spinning, mud slap it!" The Wooper was shaking it's head, trying to remove the pain from being thrown into a rock. The spinning top inched closer, and the Wooper jumped out of the way, doing a belly roll to evade another blow from the Hitmontop's rapid spin. It ran and jumped right into the small stream, adjacent from where the rocky field is. Wooper quickly dived down onto the muddy ground under the water, and scooped up some of the wet mud with it's tail. Curling it slightly, it shot up to the surface, looking right at the spinning top that was now moving closer to the waters edge.

"Go for it, Wooper!" ordered Ken. The water type jumped as high as it could into the air, narrowly avoiding the spinning vortex that the Hitmontop created. The Wooper then opened it's tail, caked with thick, runny mud and swung it as hard as it can. The spinning Hitmontop, much to the surprise of Tobias, stopped spinning, and began to falter on it's own balance. There was mud smeared all over it's lithe body, some of it covered it's eyes, some of it ran down onto it's point, slowing the movement and stopping the rapid spin.

"Pound it Wooper." Said Ken. His Wooper made a small cry, and lifted it's muddy tail, and struck the disoriented Hitmontop on the side of it's body. Some more mud fell off, nearly cleaning it's flat tail from the sticky substance as it vigorously smacked the Hitmontop.

Tobias winced, but was not worried about the apparent dominance the Wooper showed.

"Give it a triple kick, then take it down!" Tobias shouted. His Hitmontop was still reeling, barely able to see. It began spinning again, this time slowly, and extended it's three legs out as far as they can, until the mini claws were pointed upwards, making it's feet as flat and rigid as possible. It moved with remarkable speed toward Wooper, but missed it's mark and struck a nearby rock, splitting it in two with the force of it's three kicks.

"Keep pounding it to the ground, Wooper!" shouted Ken. The water type smacked the back of the Hitmontop's head, sending it reeling once again in it's confusion, but this time the Hitmontop rallied, hurling it's body towards the direction of the pound and stiffening it's legs once again, hitting Wooper in it's tiny jaw.

"WOOP!!" It cried in pain, a small welt forming on it's face as it fell backwards.

"Oh crap…"Ken said softly, as his Wooper was pummeled by three strong kicks, leaving it slightly disoriented.

"Go for the kill, take it down!" shouted Tobias. The fighting type lowered it's legs, and had them surround it's body, bracing it for impact against the now wounded Wooper, and spun towards it's location in full speed.

"Wake up Wooper, dodge it hurry!" shouted Ken, but it was no use. The Hitmontop was inches from the water type, with no room to maneuver out of it's range.

"ENDURE THE HIT!" screamed Ken, as the Hitmontop quickly tackled the Wooper, sending both pokemon onto the ground in a hard thump! The crowd gasped, as a little puff of dirty smoke rose from the point of impact, the ground shaking the tiny pebbles as a miniature tremor erupted Sebastian and Sophie had looks of despair on their face. It looked like Ken would lose; as it would be unlikely his Wooper would survive such a hit.

"That looked painful…" Sebastian whispered to Sophie.

"I don't think Wooper survived that hit…"she replied.

On the other end of the field, Ken looked crestfallen and was already bending down to pick up his pokeball to recover his Wooper. Tobias had a smile on his face, confident that the Wooper was finished.

"Ya did good, there, Ken. But not good enough." He said across the field. Ken just gritted his teeth, and looked downwards, to upset to even respond to the gym leader.

When the dust cleared, both pokemon laid motionless, almost as if they were dead. The Hitmontop was flat on it's face, it's three legs twisted together as mangled roots of a small tree. The Wooper was under it, the flat tail wrapped around it's tiny body like a blanket, and it's head tucked as close to it's body as possible. Ken already had his pokeball in hand, until he heard a faint "Woop." Ken, Tobias, and the whole crowd fell silent, staring at the twisted pile of pokemon on the dusted floor.

The pokemon began to stir, struggling to get up from the harsh fall that occurred. But surprisingly, only the Wooper was moving, trying to push the weight of the Hitmontop off of it's tiny frame. The crowed suddenly erupted in great cheering and applause, as Ken's Wooper, shaking on wobbly legs, lifted itself from the ground, exhausted but the victor.

"I…I don't believe it!" Tobias said. The spry water type was able to survive, if only barely, as the impact of the takedown was Tobias's undoing. He reluctantly drew his pokeball and recalled his Hitmontop, conceding defeat.

Ken looked like he was in shock. His mouth was open like a gaping hole, his mind still processing what happened.

"I..I won?" He said out loud.

"Ya sure did, Ken. Congratulations." Tobias said.

"I…WON! YES!" he shouted. As the crowd drowned out Ken's own screaming. He went over to his Wooper, giving the water type a big hug. The Wooper, shaking but smiling, enjoyed the embrace from it's master, despite wincing in pain from Ken's touch.

Tobias was now calming the crowd, standing in the center of the gym and getting their attention as the applause and screams began to wane.

"All righty…we got one more match fer today. I wanna say to everyone before we begin, y'all are great trainers and I'm enjoyin battlin' with y'all today. Now we got one more trainer to go, so let's get to it. Sebastian, yer up!"

Damon was running low on breath as he sprinted down the crowded streets towards the pokemon gym. His legs were on fire and his throat burned, shooting pain into his body, but he didn't care at this point. If he could make it to the pokemon gym, he would be in better company. He kept moving; passing the bystanders on the street that kept giving him concerned and confused looks. The sirens were long gone now, the police probably asking people in the area of the attempted shooting what happened earlier.

He kept looking backwards, making sure that Gabriel wasn't following him in the crowded streets of Liechi. He also glanced at the sky, periodically; making sure that his Xatu was not following him in the sky.

Damon then saw it, like a beacon of light at the end of a darkened tunnel, the pokemon gym with it's white-washed walls and giant Pigeot statues marking it's presence with ease.

'Thank god!' He thought to himself. His legs felt like jelly as he slowed his pace down a bit, trying his best to catch his breath for a moment while continuing to move forward. He was now strolling at a leisurely pace, slowly capturing his breath and calming his body for the first time since Gabriel attacked him. He looked backed some more, but neglected to see Gabriel following him at all, and eased up some more, certain that he lost his assailant.

But then something struck him from his side, and he feel backwards into an alleyway, crashing into the side of a dumpster. He looked up, dazed and dizzy, seeing double of Gabriel over him, his white t-shirt soiled and once angelic looking face red and rugged. He had his arms out again, once more wrapped around Damon's neck.

"Always look to your side." Gabriel snarled, as he squeezed Damon's neck once again.

Damon's head was reeling, his body was in great pain and his neck was on fire again. He reached out towards Gabriel, and grabbed his head, trying to push him away enough to release his grip. The two were now locked onto each other, trying to choke the other to submission. It was a stalemate between the two, their bodies were tired but their resolve was still abundant.

Damon then saw Gabriel's pistol wavering in it's holster, which was strapped around his chest on a leather belt. Damon let one of his hands go, and tried to reach for the pistol, while the other was raking Gabriel's eyes, trying to blind the man who was choking him. He gouged the teen's eyes, but despite yelping in pain, Gabriel didn't release his grip on Damon's neck. He did, however, give up some strength, which gave Damon enough wiggle room to weakly grab the handle of the pistol. He couldn't hold onto it, as it dropped to the dirty alleyway floor like a heavy stone.

Gabriel eyed this, and released his grip on Damon's neck and grabbed for the gun. Damon also reached for the fallen pistol, grabbing one of Gabriel's hands and attempting to hold him long enough to reach the gun. The two teens struggled for a moment, wriggling on the cold concrete; littered with garbage and stagnant, oily sludge. The two kept fighting, the dirty water splashing onto their clothing and slowly absorbed into the fabric as large, disgusting stains. The stench of the garbage was enough to make anyone gag, but the two kept battling, ignoring their surroundings and focusing only on the cobalt blue steel weapon in front of them.

Gabriel suddenly kneed Damon in the stomach, and he yelped a deep "OOMPH" before letting go of Gabriel's hand. This gave the blonde teen enough time to scramble for the gun, grasping the handle and pointing it towards Damon. Damon reached for his hands again, still in pain but still vigilant. The two teens were on the floor still, knees scraping the dirty water in their struggle, as they wrestled with the gun in the center. Gabriel attempted to point the barrel of the gun at Damon's chest, but was unable to pull the trigger as Damon blocked it with his hand.

The two struggled in this deadly game of tug-o-war, neither of them giving the other any room to retaliate. The gun, slick with the oily water, made this even more treacherous for the two teens, as it was hard for either of them to firmly grasp the pistol between them. Damon was short on breath again, still heaving from the knee to his stomach, while Gabriel was also fatigued, still having trouble seeing from the rake to his eyes. Both were battered, but refused to give up.

Damon then was able to gain the upper hand. He reached around with one free hand, grabbing the back of Gabriel's head, drawing it closer to his own. Gabriel struggled against this, putting as much force as he can against this maneuver, but Damon was the stronger man this time, and pulled his won head back before smacking Gabriel's face hard with a headbutt. Gabriel screamed in pain, his nose now bloodied and broken, dripping droplets of red onto his once clean shirt as he fell backwards onto the ground. The gun fell as well, with Gabriel releasing his grip from the blow by Damon.

Damon was now hurting hard, his head spinning as a large pink welt began to form on his injured brow. He struggled to maintain his own focus, and reached for the gun, this time with some slighter ease than before, as Gabriel was no longer bothering to grab it. He picked it up, and very carefully, tried to pick his body up, hunching on one side of the wall for support as he struggled to maintain his balance. His head still throbbed with pain, and his vision was dazed, but he was able to turn around and point the gun right at Gabriel, who was struggling to get up with the help of the side of the dumpster.

"Don't….move…." Damon said, his voice a mere whisper as he heaved in deep breaths to calm his injured body. Gabriel stopped moving, letting go of the dumpster and slumping back onto the ground, his bloodied face looking straight upwards at Damon and his gun. He then did something that Damon didn't expect; he began to laugh.

"Hahahahahahaha…." Gabriel laughed weakly, a sly grin forming on his face as blood ran down his cheeks like healthy rivers. Damon was completely confused, and frustrated because the young man before him was almost mocking him.

"Why are you…laughing so much…Gabriel?" He asked him. Gabriel just continued to laugh back like a hyena, before calming down and taking a deep breath.

"You…wouldn't shoot the messenger now, would you? Especially since…it's me, Damon." Gabriel said softly.

Damon, this time, smiled back, before cocking the gun and aiming it as best as he can towards Gabriel's chest. Gabriel stopped laughing, his once proud grin turning into a look of horror, his eyes showing great fear, almost pleading for his life by his expression as Damon held the gun in a stronger grip.

"You still…don't know me very well…do you, Gabriel?" Damon said manically, before pulling the trigger.


	13. Chapter 13 A Race Against Time

Chapter 13- A Race Against Time

The sun was beginning to set as the afternoon dragged onwards. After nearly a full day of waiting, playing, and watching spectacular battles being preformed before him, Sebastian was finally ready for his first gym match.

He has seen his best friend survive his match, and hopes to do the same, grabbing his first ever gym badge in the process. His stomach was in knots; his throat was dry in anticipation as he walked onto the stage and faced down Tobias for the first time. The long day was about to end for the eager teen.

The crowd had turned into nothing but a group of faithful trainers, some two-dozen hopefuls that have stuck out since the beginning of the day, including Sophie and Ken. The group was clapping loudly and cheering on Sebastian, hoping to see the powerful gym leader in defeat one more time.

"Ok now, ya ready, Sebastian?" Yelled Tobias.

Sebastian just nodded warily, his hands to his sides like an old cowboy in a showdown, ready to grab for his weapon.

'This is it,' He thought to himself. 'I can do this. I know I can. I know I can..."

"LETS DO IT!" Yelled Tobias, as he threw his pokeball onto the ground. Sebastian likewise did the same, grasping his pokeball and tossing it to the ground beneath his feet. In a flash, his Cubone revealed itself, brandishing its club like a steel sword. Across from it, a small, violet colored pokemon was forming, as the creature did minor bounces in place until its shape was created. The purple and black features were strong contrasts to the splotches of sickly orange, and around its whole body was a thin sheen of slime, coating it like and extra set of armor.

The Croagunk chirped in small ribbits, it's webbed hands forming little fists as it lifted them upwards towards his face like a boxer. It's large yellow eyes showed remarkable calm however, contrasting the fighting stance the slimy frog was in.

'That Croagunk looks tough…'Sebastian thought to himself. He kept eyeing his Cubone, still holding his club upwards, it's eyes focused entirely on the poison fighter in front of him.

"You think you can take it down, Cubone?" Sebastian asked his pokemon. The ground type looked up to it's master, and just nodded, whimpering a slight "Cuuu." Sebastian smiled, and took a deep breath to alleviate his own stress.

"Let's do it, Cubone, Give it a headbutt!" Sebastian ordered. The ground type tucked it's head down, leaving the bony white tips of it's skull helmet outwards like sharp spikes. The Croagunk's yellow eyes kept gazing lazily toward Cubone, not even making a move to evade any attack, as Cubone began to run towards it at full speed.

Tobias was smiling, waiting for just the right moment to give his first order. As Cubone gained speed, Tobias grinned some more. Now less than thirty yards away, Tobias was ready to make a move.

"Sucker punch it!" Tobias cried, as the Croagunk brought its right fist backward to its side, waiting for the ground type to get close.

"Oh no! Cubone WAIT!" Cried Sebastian, but it was too late, as his ground type was close enough to receive a quick smack from Croagunk, who hit it right in the stomach of the beast, avoiding the skull all together.

Cubone winced in pain, and fall on it's knees, the wind knocked out of it by the blow. It dropped it's club to the ground, and had both arms crossed onto his stomach, holding the spot where Croagunk punched. It was breathing heavily, and stopped dead in it's track just a few inches away from the frogs location.

"Now let's even the odds a bit 'ere, Poison Jab it!" Tobias cried. Croagunk, wound it's fist up again, but this time, the middle finger had a small spike, neon orange and coated in thick purple slime, protruding from it's fist, and in one swift motion, it jabbed right into Cubones coarse furry skin, sticking it with it's poisonous barb. The impact alone from the punch knocked Cubone down to the ground, away from it's own bone club, as it rolled backwards from the blow. Sticking out of the side of it's chest was the orange spike, covered in the slime and no doubt making it's way into Cubone's bloodstream.

"Oh shit…" Sebastian said out loud. He looked at his pokemon, beaten down and now poisoned, and now yards away from it's own bone club.

"Cubone, get up! Don't give up!" Sebastian cried. Cubone was struggling to stand, shaking violently and beginning to sweat under it's skull. It kept crying in pain, but was not ready to give up yet. Without it's club, it just raised it's tiny claws together into smaller fists, and was ready to get back into the fray, albeit weakened by the poison.

"Throw some bullet punches at it!" Tobias ordered! The Croagunk nodded, and began hopping towards Cubone, winding both fists backwards, as the sheen of slime covering them began to harden into a steel like substance.

"Cubone, thrash at it!" Sebastian cried. His pokemon ran forward, wailing like a madman, arms out stretched and flailing madly, the skull head swinging back and forth like a chime in the wind, charging the poison fighter in front of it. The two collided in the center, the Croagunk striking first, punching Cubone in it's skull with it's steel like hand, before Cubone smashed it's whole body into the slimy assailant. Croagunk was knocked off it's webbed feet, as Cubone began kicking and stomping on top of it, out of desperation. The frog had it's hands up in guard, protecting it's face from the onslaught, but it could not hold this position much longer.

'He's jes delayin…'Tobias thought to himself, as he got ready for his next order. Sebastian, meanwhile, was not sure what to do next.

'I can't get any serious damage without it hitting me, and the poison will sap more energy if I prolong this..' He thought to himself. He looked around the rocky field, eyeing the boulders and the stream to see if he can find an advantage somewhere. He then eyed Cubones club, tucked onto the side of the field collecting dust. 'We need that back first…' thought Sebastian, until he came back to reality when Tobias broke his concentration.

"Faint attack!" Tobias yelled, and in an instant, Croagunk shifted away, disappearing at the speed of light. Cubone stopped thrashing about, and began looking around, rather tired and confused as to where it's assailant went. He then was pushed from behind, as the Croagunk was able to sneak up on the ground type and smack it back onto the rocky surface of the field.

"Cubone, go for your club!" Sebastian yelled!

"On no ya don't." retorted Tobias, "Keep up the faint attacks Croagunk!"

Every time Cubone got up, the Croagunk would push it back down from behind, slinking back into the shadows from the faint attack. The continuous pattern began angering Sebastian, as his pokemon couldn't even move, let alone land a punch on the frog that was harassing it. This, coupled with the poison that was coursing through Cubone's body, made the inevitable a near reality.

'What..what can I do?' Sebastian thought to himself. He was beginning to panic, gritting his teeth and worrying about his pokemon.

'Maybe I should just give up…' he kept thinking to himself. He was so tempted to reach for the pokeball and return his Cubone, so tempted to end this right now, so tempted….

"COME ON SEB!" Shouted Ken from the sidelines. He was trying to cheer his buddy on, despite the odds before him. " KICK HIS ASS! DO IT DUDE! I KNOW YOU CAN!" He kept wailing, over the rest of the crowd, giving Sebastian encouragement.

'How…' he kept thinking to himself. How can he win? The only way is to get the Croagunk to stop hitting him, but how to get it away from him.

'Wait…maybe that can work…' Sebastian thought to himself.

"Cubone, False Swipe!" Sebastian cried. Across the field, Cubone lifted it's tiny fists, and swung a left jab towards the Croagunk, anticipating where it may have attacked. The ruse worked, and the Croagunk hesitated for a moment, stopping it's faint attack in mid speed before receiving a light tap from Cubones punch. This gave the pokemon enough time to retreat, right back to where it dropped it's bone club.

"Chase it down! Use a cross chop n' finish it off!" ordered Tobias. Croagunk, shaking it's head, began charging at the sprinting Cubone, crossing it's webbed hands into two sturdy open palms used by karate experts, and rushing with great speed towards the lumbering Cubone. Cubone was running as fast as it can go, despite nearly stumbling a few times due to the poison in it's body, which was no doubt making the most menial tasks now more unbearable and painful.

Croagunk was right behind Cubone when he reached it's club. Quickly sensing danger, the ground type grasped the thin end of it's weapon, and brought it up to defend itself, just as the cross chop was coming down onto it's body.

"BONE RUSH!" Sebastian cried. And Cubone thrusted it's club towards the abdomen of it's opponent. The thick end of the bone went right into Croagunk's stomach. Cubone pushed in with as much strength it could spare, as the Croagunk was nearly stunned, unable to move or breathe due to the club that pounded it's body. It's cross chop let loose, and it's arms feel to it's sides, as the Croagunk croaked in pain, a high sounding shriek of a cry being uttered from it's slimy lips.

"That's it Cubone, keep pushing it! Keep putting pressure on it!" Sebastian cried. Tobias, however, was not to be outdone.

"Get away from 'dere Croagunk! Use a body slam!" He shouted, but the ground type was now in control, as the Croagunk could barely breathe, let alone comprehend, what it should do. Cubone, still shaking from the poison invading it's body, kept pushing, with waning strength each time, until it let go, heaving deep breaths on it's own.

"Finish it off, Cubone. Smack it with bone club!" shouted Sebastian. The ground type raised it's club as high as it can, it's body in a tremor as it used what would likely be the last ounce of strength it could muster, and slammed it's club downwards, right onto Croagunk's head, landing a direct hit between it's yellow eyes. The frog staggered for a moment, letting out another, this time low pitched, cry, before falling to the ground for the first time in the match.

Tobias's mouth was open with shock, his eyes showing great amazement to what he just witnessed. Likewise, the crowd was totally silent, waiting to see if Croagunk would begin stirring, showing any signs of continuing the battle. When it became clear that the poison frog was not getting up, Tobias conceded, recalling his fainted pokemon, as the crowd erupted once again, in excitement.

"YES!" Shouted Sebastian, who ran over to his pokemon in the center of the field, and picking it up for a tight hug.

"You did it, Cubone." He whispered into the pokemons ear. The Cubone, shaking violently in his arms, only nodded and said a faint "cuuu.."barely conscious because of the poison. Quickly thinking, Sebastian recalled him to it's pokeball, buying his ground type some time to get to the pokecenter in town as quickly as possible.

"I wanna congratulate you, Sebastian, n' everyone else I faced today." Tobias said on his microphone, his words hushing the crowd. "It's been a while since I got swept like this, so I hope ya'll who beat me today continue yer journeys as trainers, yer good ones in my book. I want the four trainers to line up, so I can present ya'll with the badges. Once again, congratulation's, and hope to see ya'll soon."

With that, Tobias ushered for the four trainers to go back onto the dusted arena floor, and began one final ceremony, presenting the winners with their new badges.

It was nearly dusk now, the hot sun setting quickly in the magenta colored clouds, as Sebastian, Sophie, and Ken waited outside of the pokecenter for Damon. All three trainers have not seen him since this morning, when he left on his personal business, and some of them were starting to worry about their counterpart at this stage. Ken was sitting on the steps leading to the center, while Sebastian kept his gaze on the street corner closest to him, scanning the darkening horizon for the familiar leather jacket.

"I bet he ditched us." Sophie kept complaining, as she paced back and forth between the marble steps of the pokecenter.  
"I could only hope." Muttered Ken.  
"Oh come on," Sebastian said, "I bet he just got caught up in whatever he was doing."  
"Why do you keep defending him?" Ken asked. "The guy is an , you know?"  
"Dude, calm down. He is not an . Yeah he's kind of harsh at times, but he means well."  
"You trust him to much." Ken retorted.  
"Still, if he did try to rob you or something, he would of already." Sophie said.  
"See, thank you Sophie."  
"Doesn't mean I don't like him much either." She said back. Sebastian just rolled his eyes, giving up the fight to defend Damon. It was futile at this point to argue.  
"I say we wait a fifteen more minutes, and if he doesn't show up, we go in to rest, and leave tomorrow." Sophie said.  
"Sounds good to me." Replied Ken. He then turned his gaze to Sebastian, who kept looking vigilantly outwards towards the street. "That ok with you buddy?"

Without moving his head, Sebastian just sighed, and slowly nodded. "Ok, Ken. We can do that."

"You guys waiting up for me, I like that!" said a familiar voice behind them all.

The three trainers turned around towards the alleyway, and all three nearly screamed in horror by the sight of Damon. His entire body, head to toe, was dirty and disheveled, his neck was as red as a tomato, and his clothing were ragged and smelly.

"What the happened to you?" Ken asked.  
"I got mugged by some idiot who thought it would be nice to steal from me." Damon said coolly.  
"Oh crap, are you ok?" Sebastian asked.  
"Oh yeah I'm fine. You should see the other guy though." Damon said, smiling.  
"You should take a shower then." Sophie said, smiling lightly and holding her nose with her fingers, trying to prevent the lingering odor of the dumpsters on Damon's body from bothering her.

"I planned to, thank you. After that, we should leave." Damon said, brushing past the teens and heading right for the pokecenter door.

"Wait, why leave so quickly?" Sebastian asked. "I mean we just won our first badges and…"  
"Ah, you both won huh?" Damon asked.  
"Yeah!" Sebastian said enthusiastically, his face grinning "They were great matches too. Ken's came down to a…"

"Tell me about it when were on the road again, and we should just go because the quicker we leave, the quicker we can get to the next city."  
"Um, what is the next city, then?" Ken said sarcastically.  
"Figure it out, Ken. I am sure you have somewhere to go to now." Damon said back, giving a slight wink to the teen as his face blushed with some anger, before opening the pokecenter doors and heading straight for the shower area.

"Anyone else find that weird?" Sophie said.  
"How so?" Sebastian asked.  
"Well, he gets mugged, but doesn't mention cops or anything, and by the looks of it, he didn't get stopped by them. It was as if he was hiding in the alleys the whole time."  
Ken just shrugged his shoulders, before giving off a small yawn.  
"Who cares." He said. "I just wish the guy who mugged him succeeded, damn he is."

"How evil of you, Ken." Sophie said sarcastically.  
"Yeah dude, that wasn't funny." Sebastian said back. Ken's smile turned into a frown quickly.  
"Oh come on, it was just a joke!" he said back to his friend.  
"Yeah yeah…"

As the three trainers argued outside the pokecenter, none of them were paying any attention to the nearby buildings. High on top of one of the large skyscrapers, a large, green Xatu was listening to their trivial plights, and watching them as keenly as possible, waiting for them to go on the move once more.


	14. Chapter 14 The Great Schism

Chapter 14- The Great Schism

Dusk was setting in over the maroon sky, as the sunsets for the night once more. The moon was visible, but distant and dull as the sun's final rays hold it at bay for a few hours longer. Sebastian can't help but look up at the pinkish hue that covers the sky, a thing of beauty in his mind as he and his friends travel across a wooded path.

Damon has been leading them deep into the woods ever since leaving Leichi. "We need to toughen up a bit." He remarked as the reasoning behind this. Even though the roads are more direct to the nearest towns, Damon persisted this is a better plan.

Now, Sebastian is beginning to question his judgment. Ken and Sophie have already expressed how ridiculous this idea was, and in true fashion, used a lot of yelling and arguments to make their cases. Sebastian was hoping to get a good view of some pokemon, but thus far only weak leveled Cateripes and Pidgeys have been seen. Now in their fourth day in the wild, he too is getting restless.

'Maybe Ken is right this time.' Sebastian pondered. 'Maybe we should of stayed on the roads.'

"So, fearless leader." Ken remarked sarcastically, breaking Sebastian's own thoughts.

Damon sighed before facing Ken eye to eye. "Yes, Ken? Another complaint, like always?" he said nonchalantly.

"Oh no…I don't mean to complain at all." Chided Ken.

"In fact, I want to thank you, because this has been a great waste of time and if it wasn't for you, we could of made great progress in the past four days."

"Oh but we are…"

"Not this again!" snapped Ken. "Not this whole "for the experience" crap!" I know it's a lie, your probably just leading us out into the woods so we can rot or something like that."

"Ken, don't be stupid." Damon replied calmly. "If I wanted to do that, I would of never given you pokemon when we met. Plus, I would of abandoned you in Ridge Woods and in Liechi. You really need to stop the drama, Ken. It gets you nowhere."

Sophie began giggling a bit, while Ken shot her a hasty glare of anger. He then turned to Sebastian, who was just shaking his head in disgust.

"You really need to calm down, Ken." Sophie said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Ok, ok. You wouldn't do that." Conceded Ken. "But where are you leading us then?"

"Well…" Damon began, before Ken cut him off.

"Stop with the secrets already! That annoys me more." Ken said in disgust.

Damon was no longer calm. His face scrunched up, his hands clenched into tight fists as his lip quivered to the rhythm of his beating heart. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Sebastian, for the first time, knew Damon was going to snap.

"Um guys…" Sebastian said finally. He was hoping that another petty argument would just blow over, but it seems like this one might lead to unnecessary violence in his eyes.

"No, Sebastian. Too late for some peace." Damon said harshly.

"Is that so?" Ken remarked.

"You think I keep secrets from you?" Damon asked.

"Yes."

"Then how hypocritical are you then, Ken?"

Ken thought for a moment, but before he could answer, Damon started again.

"No need to answer, because I know what you will say." Ken looked more confused.

"You do?" he asked softly.

"Oh, I do." Damon said, before moving so close to Ken his face was now inches from Ken's. Ken now was wide eyed, and he began to shake in nervousness with Damon's advanced.

"Damon don't…" started Sebastian, but Damon just shot him a dirty look, which quickly repelled any reply. Damon quickly turned back to Ken, who was still shaking out of anticipation of what he likely deserved.

"Everyone harbors secrets, Ken. Desires, problems, even things that are just left unsaid. Sometimes it is for a good cause, and other times it can do harm to someone, even yourself if you leave it closed for too long. I suggest that you stop making quick accusations towards people, because one day someone won't hold back when they feel like punching you in the gut!"

Damon raised his fists up, as Ken jerked his head, flinching downwards. Damon kept an icy gaze on him, before claming himself and walking away. Ken was now sitting on the ground, his head buried in his arms. Sophie and Sebastian, both onlookers towards the exchange, were relieved it was over.

"Ok, guys." Sophie said, easing the tension some more. "I think we have had enough. The sun is almost gone and stuff, and we should set up camp."

"Good idea." Replied Damon in his usual, emotionless tone.

BOOM!

Before anyone could unpack their sleeping bags, a large crack of thunder erupted in the sky. Everyone jumped in freight by the sudden noise. Shortly after, a brilliant flash of light, like a supernova, filled the sky and covered the pinkish hue with nothing but white, before receding away from it's source; a large, scraggly lightning bolt that likely touch downed in the woods nearby.

"Forget the camp, follow me." Damon said quickly, grabbing his pack and lightly jogging to the east. Sophie followed suit, while Sebastian repacked his supplied. Ken, still sitting on the ground, seemed oblivious to the entire scenario. Sebastian noticed this, as he began rocking his friend in the arm, hoping to wake him up from this trance-like state.

"Come on Ken. We gotta go." Sebastian pleaded, but Ken never looked up at his friend, he kept his head downwards past his knees, wallowing in his own shame.

"Leave me." He said weakly.

"Don't be dumb, just come on…"

"I SAID LEAVE ME!" Ken shouted back, this time moving his head upwards.

BOOM!

"Why should I leave my friend?" Sebastian asked.

"I am not a good friend. I am just causing trouble." Ken said back.

"Dude it's ok, everyone gets frustrated at times…"

"NO! It's not ok. I keep doing this to you guys because I don't trust him at all. It's obvious that he is not leaving, so he can take my place. So just leave me!"

BOOM!

"Dude, stop it. No one can take your place here! Please come on, there's a thunderstorm coming. We need to get out of here."

"Id rather stay here."

"Stop this self-pity shit!" snapped Sebastian. "Just stop it! You're a better guy than this Ken, you need to just calm down a bit."

"How the hell can I calm down when my BEST FRIEND is going off with some jerk and a girl he likes over ME?" Ken shouted back.

BOOM!

Sebastian was taken back by Ken's words, but now was worried because the thunder was coming closer every minute they waste. He could feel a few droplets of fresh rain sprinkle on his head; he needs to hurry.

"That is not what this is about, Ken. I made a promise that we would do this together!"

"Why aren't you keeping it then?" Ken asked, as tears were visibly forming in his eyes. "Why bring these guys onto what we wanted to do together? This was all about you and me, best friends toughing it out! Why the fuck are strangers with us? What happened dude? What happened?"

BOOM!

Sebastian didn't know what to say. He sniffled a bit, before rubbing his eyes to wipe away the visible tears as well. By now the rain was fully coming down, soaking the two teens. In the distance, Sebastian can hear Sophie calling them to hurry up.

"I am sorry, Ken." Was all Sebastian said, as Ken wiped his wet face of the salty tears and cascading rainwater. Ken just looked up and nodded, before Sebastian grabbed his arm and helped him up from the now flooded ground.

"I just wanted it to be us, dude." Ken said softly.

BOOM!

"Let's talk about this later." Sebastian said, before running off to the east. Ken followed suit, running behind him, the two hoping to out chase the oncoming storm.

They finally caught up to Sophie and Damon, who were starting to shiver from the cold rain that was falling over their heads. Wet and tired, the two teens were in awe of what was before them; a stone structure, charcoal gray in color and fittingly irregular in shape. Boulders the size of giant houses were strewn on the ground, with moss overgrown on the sides and weeds found all over the gray backs of the rough stone. In the center was a giant hole, like a mouth gaping open in a frozen yawn, beckoning, or frightening, anyone who may dare enter inside.

"What is this place?" Sebastian asked.

"It's a cave I discovered a few years back!" Damon replied. "It's pretty big inside, a lot of tunnels, I think some Onix lived in here, but I never saw one."

"Hurry up, I'm getting chills now!" Sophie cried.

BOOM!

The four dashed into the cavern's entrance, as darkness fully engulfed them. Outside, they can see the droplets of rain and the flashes of lightning through their opening, giving some brief light to where they are going.

Damon was the first to grab his pokeball, before releasing it onto the cavern's floor. In a flash, his Flaaffy, Amp, emitted a light, soothing baa before lighting the cavern with its tail. Sebastian shielded his eyes briefly, before adjusting to the grisly sight before him. The cave was bare and cold; it's caverns deep and dull, oval in shape and perfectly formed. The group moved inside the cave, getting as far as they can from the entrance and the flashes of light, before the cave's mouth was a distant sight to them.

"Ok, we should camp here." Damon said.

"Good idea, I'm still shivering." Sophie remarked, rubbing her arms around her body, her clothing drenched from the rain.

Ken released his Magby from his pokeball, as he gathered some sticks strewn inside the cave. Few they were, but sufficient enough to make a small fire. The baby pokemon burped a tiny ember onto the dry wood, which was quickly engulfed in a roaring flame, warming the trainers immensely.

"Good job, Magby." Ken complimented his pokemon. The baby duck cooed as Ken returned it to it's home. Sebastian sat down near the fire, extending his arms outward to warm his body up.

"That was real sudden, wasn't it?" Sebastian remarked.

"Very much so." Sophie said, sitting next to Sebastian and emulating his actions.

" That's the way the weather is. All a part of being prepared and expecting the unexpected." Damon chimed in.

"Although, it would have been better if we were on the main road." Ken said.

Sophie just began giggling. "Stop, Ken. No need for this again." She said.

Ken just laughed. "I'm over it. I was just saying guys…"

"It's fine." Said Damon, as he put his backpack down and took off his leather jacket, placing it on an overturned rock next to the fire. He unzipped the backpack and began rummaging through it's hidden contents, before grabbing a dry shirt and pants set from the overstuffed bag.

"I suggest we all get something warm on, so we don't freeze." Damon said, before taking hit drenched shirt off. He sat down on the floor and unlaced his black boots and peeled his dirty socks off as well.

"WOAH, hold on a second!" Sophie said, jumping up as Damon removed his socks.

"What is it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that your all guys and I'm a girl?"

Ken began to laugh. "It's no big deal, Sophie. I didn't plan on stripping naked or anything." Ken, like Damon, already had his sneakers and socks off, and was beginning lift his shirt up.

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM!" Sophie shouted in anger."What the hell am I going to do, I am not getting dressed in front of you all!"

"Relax." Sebastian said calmly. "Just walk down in the cave a bit and come back. I promise we won't look."

"Speak for yourself." Ken said softly.

"I HEARD THAT!"

Ken just laughed a bit more. "It's a joke, Sophie. Calm down. I promise I will stay here."

Sophie was clearly agitated, grabbing her backpack with anger and removing her wet sandals from her feet.

"How will I see though?" She asked.

"Amp, go with her so she can see." Damon said. The sheep pokemon nodded its pink head, before standing next to Sophie's side, ready to depart.

"You all better stay here." She said angrily, before walking deeper into the cave, Amp following close behind.

The three boys began to laugh a bit. By now, Damon and Ken were now in their boxers and throwing their fresh clothes on, while Sebastian has just begun to remove his wet shirt.

"I am surprised about that." Damon said heartily.

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"She act's like tomboy, but is so modest when we are around."

"She's a girl. That's the way girls are." Remarked Ken.

"Not true at all." Replied Sebastian. "Remember Alisa Janis back in Ganlon? She was always climbing trees and playing tag with the guys. She was also topless when we went swimming together."

"Dude that was when we were ten. It was innocent back then."

"I know, but still…" Sebastian began.

"You guys must have had a good childhood with your friends." Damon asked.

"Yeah, we had fun back then. It was somewhat simple back then too. School, and games around the town." Sebastian said. Sighing a bit.

"Homesick yet, Seb?" Ken chided him.

" A bit, I guess, but your also missing your family as much as I am, Ken." Sebastian shot back.

Ken laughed weakly, before grabbing his sleeping bag from the soaked backpack and rolling it out, ready for bed. Damon was already lying down on his back, looking at the coarse ceiling above him as the fire flickered the shadows in the crevices. Sebastian, now fully dressed and welcome dry, kept his hands near the fire, warming his body up some more before laying down.

"I wonder what is taking Sophie so long?" Ken said.

"Yeah, she has been gone for a while now." Sebastian said.

"Go check on her, Sebastian." Suggested Damon.

Sebastian looked up at Damon, who was still looking at the ceiling of the cavern.

"Why me?"

"I can think of many reasons." Ken said, chuckling.

"Shut up, Ken!" Sebastian said, his face turning red. " I am sure she's fine, I mean I would be invading her privacy if I went to get her."

"True, I guess. Give her a few minutes though." Said Damon.

"Oh hell, I'll go look for her." Ken said, standing up from his sleeping bag.

"No, just leave her…." Damon began. Before loud rumble quaked the cavern. The three teens sat up immediately, looking around their dimly lit area for a source of the sound.

"What the hell was that?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out, Seb." Ken replied.

Another tremor shook the cavern, this time making small pebbles fall to the ground. Then a loud shriek was heard.

"AAAAIHHHH!"

"SOPHIE!" Sebastian shouted, before he grabbed his backpack and headed towards Sophie's direction.

"SEBASTIAN, WAIT!" Damon shouted, but it was too late. As the teen was already off into the dark cave on his own.

"Let's go, we got to follow him." Ken said. The two grabbed their packs and began to run after him, but another, more sinister shriek emitted from the cavern, before the ceiling of the pathway Sebastian ran down collapsed in front of them. Ken and Damon covered their heads with their arms as the rocks fell downward, inches from their location as boulders that would easily crush them tumbled from the top.

The cave in was quick and continued to shake the foundations. Ken and Damon ran back to their campsite, the dimly lit fire almost eradicated by falling dust from the rocks above. Another tremor rocked the two trainers, and this time, the side of the cavern bursted open, like a blast from a demolition. Rocks flew everywhere, one striking Ken in the stomach and hurling him to the ground. As Damon rushed to help the fallen teen, out of the corner of his eye he could see something, a dark shape, moving near them.


End file.
